The Hunt Continues
by Ryiena
Summary: Amon awakens in a hospital two weeks after the Factory incident, but to his dismay, he has only been in the hospital for one week. What happened the week before? Where is Robin? Why is SOLOMON more determined than ever to hunt Robin? Chapter 10 is up!
1. Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy! Thanks to my bro SapphireExWing for helping me with this fic. Chapter 2 will be up later this week. ^_^ 

Lost 

Darkness. . . . . .darkness was all that Amon could see. His body ached and he had a sharp pain running through his right leg. Smoke drifted into the man's lungs, causing Amon to cough furiously. Once his coughing subsided, Amon tried to open his eyes. Had he really survived the blast? What about Robin? He managed to open up his right eye and doing so, looked around at his surroundings. Everything was fuzzy; nothing in his site came out clearly enough for him to assume his current position. Amon turned his head slightly to the right, noticing a still figure in black lying near him. "Robin?" he said weakly. That was all the poor man could choke out, before falling back into the darkness. 

"Doctor, should I contact his family?" asked a female voice.

"No, according to his records he has none. The only people that have been called are his colleagues, but they're already here. Please go check into the other patient for now," said the doctor. 

"As you wish."

Amon listened as the nurse's footsteps faded from the room. It sounded like he was in a hospital. The pain he had felt in his leg before was gone, but it still ached. He could sense that the doctor was still standing there, studying him. How long had he been in the hospital? Was Robin there too?

He opened his eyes and sluggishly turned his head towards the doctor. The man stood over him, peering at what seemed like Amon's medical charts. His eyebrows bounced up and down in astonishment as he read through the charts. 

"Is something wrong?" asked a very annoyed Amon.

"Ah, you're awake. No sir, just reading through the results of yesterday's tests. You seem to be doing much better than expected. I've never seen a patient heal as quickly as you have."

Amon's mind soon switched back to the young girl, whom had been in the factory with him. "What about Robin?"

The doctor looked at Amon dumbfounded. "Robin? Oh, I remember one of your colleagues speaking of a woman named Robin. I'm sorry to say she wasn't found in the rubble."

Amon felt a lump form in his throat. How could that be? Hadn't Robin been next to him? There was no possible way she was gone. "What do you mean she wasn't found? Robin was right next to me."

The doctor sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Amon, you were the only one found. The police department and your colleagues at the STN-J spent many days searching, but she was never found."

"She must have escaped," Amon said to himself. His voice remained the same; the old cold-hearted tone that he was always able to maintain. Even hearing news as this didn't seem to sway the man emotionally. At least, not when he spoke. The truth was, he was worried. True he had once wanted to hunt his former partner, but after hearing the sad truth about the origins of the girl; his heart changed. Instead he wished to protect her, but now that seemed impossible. Robin could possibly be dead. Though he hoped that was untrue, someone as strong as she couldn't be dead.

"How long have I been here?" asked Amon inquisitively. 

"You've been here for one week." The doctor proceeded towards the door to exit the room. "I must attend to other patients now. If you need anything, please call one of the nurses. I shall return in about 2 hours to checkup on you," he said walking out the door, closing it behind him.

Amon realized the doctor was trying to avoid further questioning. Something strange was going on. Had it really been only one week since the explosion of the factory? Amon reached over and pressed the TV button on the control panel next to his bed. The screen flipped on, showing two news reporters at their desks. One of them spoke about the explosion at the factory. It seemed to Amon that SOLOMON told the media the explosion was the result of an accident.

"They're still playing it safe," said Amon to himself. Somehow he knew the news media would have no news on her. Leaking any information on Robin's disappearance would also bring up information on SOLOMON and the STN-J's involvement with witches. 

He continued watching the news program, wondering if there would be any word on his missing ex-partner. The program ran for another ten minutes, with no news on Robin. Amon decided to switch the television off and get some rest. Just as he clicked the television off, a knock came from the door. Amon turned to see whom was entering his room. To his surprise, it was Nagira, his stepbrother. 

"Ah, so you are awake. We've been hoping you would soon," said Nagira closing the door behind him. 

Amon's stepbrother seemed like his usual self. Yet the expression on his face told a different story. Chances are he knew something of Robin that Amon didn't. After all, Nagira was good for getting information. Perhaps he could explain what had happened after the factory blew up.

"I know what you're going to ask Amon. Where is Robin? What happened after the factory blew up?"

Amon nodded and sat up in his bed. Nagira smiled and pulled up a chair next to his stepbrother's bed and sat down. He folded his arms up to his chest and sighed. 

"Sorry to say I haven't heard a thing."

He looked at Nagira in disbelief. "Nothing at all?"

"Nope, nothing has come up in the last two weeks. Everyone at the STN-J is even helping in the search for her." Nagira noticed the strange expression that consumed Amon's normally expressionless face. 

"Two weeks?" asked Amon.

"Uh yeah, it's been two weeks since the explosion at the factory."

"But the doctor said I've been here for one week? How could the factory incident have occurred two weeks ago?" asked Amon.

"Well for one thing, you didn't show up at this hospital until one week ago. Right after the factory blew up, we all went searching for you. We never found either one of you. I thought you and Robin must have escaped, but I guess I was mistaken."

This really troubled Amon. What had happened that week before? Where had he been? Had someone taken them? Could SOLOMON had something to do with this?

"Any strange events happening recently?"

"No, none recently. Nagira paused and stroked his chin. "Wait, there was this one incident I heard about one week ago."

"What was it?" asked Amon.

"There was this mysterious fire at an old warehouse not too far from here. No one knows how the fire started. It seems like the warehouse was being used as a testing facility. Whatever they tested for is unknown."

Nagira stood up from the chair and yawned. "By the way, I don't think it's safe for you to return to your apartment. After helping Robin and all, you're not on good terms with SOLOMON. They could possibly send someone after you."

Amon shook his head. "If SOLOMON wanted to do me in, they could have already sent someone while I've been in the hospital." 

"No, SOLOMON tries to be as careful as possible when it comes to hunting. An attack at a hospital would certainly not help keep the organization's secrets hidden. They'll wait until you exit the hospital," said Nagira. 

So what was he to do now? Once he was released from the hospital, SOLOMON would be waiting for him. Was there another reason as to why they were after him? Had he revealed his powers without knowing he had done so?

"Did they show?" asked Amon.

Nagira knew what his stepbrother was speaking of. He nodded and sighed. "Yeah, they showed alright. You should have been killed by the wounds you received in the explosion, but you survived. Thanks to those powers of yours that you hoped would never surface, you're still alive. Seems you have the power of healing," snorted Nagira. There was something absolutely funny about his dark stepbrother having healing powers.

"Healing?" asked Amon in a somewhat shocked tone. 

"Yeah, you're wounds are healing up faster than a normal human's would. You man not realize this, but your powers have been around for a while. It just wasn't obvious to you."

Amon slowly closed his eyes and nodded. "When are they releasing me?" Now that he knew why SOLOMON was so hellbent on hunting him, he was ready to go. For one thing, he needed to find out what had happened to Robin. He just had to know what happened to her.

"I heard the doctor say tomorrow, since you've healed so quickly. SOLOMON will surely be ready for you as soon as you're released. It's a safe bet that you'll need to leave here before then," said a sly Nagira. 

Obvious to Amon, his older stepbrother had an ingenious plan on how to get him out of the hospital, without SOLOMON noticing. He just hoped that whatever Nagira was cooking up would work. Otherwise, they would both be in trouble. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Alright, that's the end of chapter 1! This is my first WHR fic, so please be nice. Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. Now for an explanation on the time lapse. The attack on the factory happened two weeks before Amon awakened in the hospital. When Amon awoke back in the rubble at the factory, he had awakened only a few minutes after the building collapsed. He, nor anyone else at this point knows why Amon didn't show up in the hospital until one week after the factory explosion. Later chapters will explain why this one week of Amon's life is amiss. 

Anyways, here's a preview of the next chapter!

_A daring escape. . . . .what once was lost, has now been found. . . . .hidden truths. . . . ._

I'd appreciate any feedback you could give me on the story. Please no flaming. I don't flame others work, so I would expect the same in return. Don't worry, I don't punish readers by not getting reviews. Forcing people to review just to post chapters is childish. That normally just turns away people whom want to review. 


	2. The Escape

The factory is no more. Amon awakens in a hospital two weeks after the incident, but to his dismay, he has only been in the hospital for one week. What happened the week before? Where is Robin? Why is SOLOMON more determined than ever to hunt both Robin and himself?

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Escape

Nagira cautiously walked out of Amon's room, observing every person that stood in that hospital hall. No one seemed suspicious. Except for the group of people that sat in the waiting room. He walked over to the group of three, whom chatted amongst themselves. His arrival seemed to halt the long conversation between the three. The three hunters from the STN-J all sat there: Sakaki, Doujima, and Karasuma.

"Did you see him?" asked Doujima.

"Yep, I talked to him. He sounds like his old self. Though he doesn't seem to remember anything that happened after the Factory collapsed," said Nagira, sitting down next to the blonde hunter.

"Nothing huh? So that means he knows nothing of Robin?" asked Sakaki.

"Nope, he knows nothing. I'm starting to wonder about that Warehouse incident," said Nagira, stroking his stubbily chin. He glanced over at Karasuma, whom seemed deep in thought. 'She must be worried about Robin' Nagira thought to himself.

"Are you okay Miho?" asked a very concerned Doujima.

The hunter seemed to snap out of her trance upon hearing Doujima speak. She turned towards her colleagues and nodded. "I am fine. . .it's just that I'm worried about Robin," she said sadly. Miho looked down at her hands and then at the door, which lead into Amon's room. "Maybe. . .," she said to herself.

"Maybe what?" questioned Nagira.

"Maybe I could try and read Amon's thoughts. Perhaps deep in his mind, he knows what happened, but has forgotten. There is just a chance I can still get a sense as to what took place after the Factory incident."

Nagira looked over at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Well we can't do it now. Visiting hours are almost over and there's no way they'll let us in." He took a glance over at the nurse's station, catching a pair of curious eyes staring back at him. From the way she looked at him, it seemed she didn't want them there any longer. He stood up from the couch and straightened out his coat. "Well I think it's about time we left," he said heading towards the elevator.

Sakaki and others stood from their seats, heading towards the elevator as well. Karasuma stopped as she stood near Amon's door. She wanted to go in there and talk to him, but she knew that she very well couldn't. Taking one last glance at the door, she walked towards the elevator.

Nagira stood at the elevator door, waiting for her. "Don't worry, you have your chance to talk to him soon. He won't be in there for much longer," he said with a wink.

Amon looked up at the clock that sat next to the television screen. It was almost midnight. He glanced over at the fire alarm on the wall. "Only a few more minutes," he said to himself. Very slowly Amon pulled the IV out of his arm. He winced as his arm began to sting from the removal of the needle.

Just as the minute hand on the clock hit 11:57, Amon rushed over to his closet, stumbling as he walked. Many days had passed since he had been on his feet, so it would take time getting use to walking again. Inside were his usual set of clothes and a white jacket. Nagira had left this for him, which was to serve as some sort of disguise. This looked like the jacket that the doctors in the hospital wore.

Amon wondered how his stepbrother had managed to snag this jacket. Nagira knew many people, so it must not have been hard to obtain it. He just left it sitting in the closet. The man would move quick enough. No one would notice his escape. There was no need for a disguise. If Nagira had been there that moment, he would have been furious that Amon was abandoning the disguise.

The man glanced back over at the clock. Just as the minute hand landed over the twelve, the fire alarm went off. Now was his cue to leave. Amon glanced out the window on the door of his room, seeing all the nurses rush from their stations.

"Good," he said to himself. This is exactly what he wanted. With them gone, nothing could stop him.

He slowly opened the door and watched as the nurses ran into the rooms of other patients. As he watched the last nurse disappear, Amon took off towards the stairs. Without even a moment's hesitation, the runaway made his way down the flights of stairs, not even glancing back to see if anyone was following. Once he reached the bottom, Amon glanced back. There was no one. The man started towards the exit of the stairs when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Amon swung around to see whom was approaching.

"Escaping are we?" asked an ominous voice.

Amon didn't see anyone from the staircase. "Who's there?" he asked.

A figure fell down in front of him; the shock of their arrival nearly causing Amon to fall back. The person stepped towards him, smiling. Amon stepped back, staring at the figure. This person reminded him of someone.

"Who are you?" he demanded. His voice remained flat as he spoke.

"I was sent to kill you by SOLOMON," said the figure smiling evilly. "You are to be hunted just as the woman Robin. Both you and Robin are witches, that must be killed."

Amon stopped at the exit door and stared at the hunter. She looked similar to Robin. The woman wore a long, black coat, very similar to the crimson one that Robin once wore. Underneath the jacket was a black dress, that was also similar the one Robin wore. Her raven hair swayed alongside her shoulders. It almost seemed like she was trying mimic Robin's looks. "What is your name?" asked Amon curiously.

"Haze. That is all you need to know." She the then rose her arm up into the air, pointing a gun straight at Amon's head. "How does it feel to be the hunted?" she asked coldly.

He kept his usual cool demeanor, even as a gun was being pointed at him. Amon didn't seemed worried that he was about to be shot. Her comment didn't seem to affect him either. It almost seemed like he was accepting his fate.

She smiled and pulled the trigger. Amon quickly closed his eyes, awaiting the impact of the bullet driving straight through his skull. Instead, he heard the sound of a bullet bouncing off metal. He opened his eyes and looked up at the hunter. Haze still held the gun out in front of her. The ex-hunter was utterly confused. Wasn't this woman going to kill him? A moment ago she had one straight shot at his head, but she missed.

"Go," she said.

"I thought you were going to kill me?" he asked coldly.

The woman nodded and sighed. "Yes, I am suppose to and I will. Just not today," she said sticking the gun back in its holster. "Find her," she said looking up at Amon.

This confused Amon. Was she asking him to find Robin? Why was this hunter letting him escape to find Robin? "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "Just find her. We will meet again soon Amon." Haze walked forward, getting right next to Amon. Leaning over to his hear, she whispered something to him and walked off. Amon turned back towards her. Her words rang in his ears.

"_Next time, my shot won't miss._"

Haze walked outside of the hospital and glanced back. Her raven locks drifted into the air as the wind blew through the streets. Piercing blue eyes stared back at the bright building. She smiled and pulled out a cellular phone. The woman flipped back the screen on the phone and started pressing keys.

"Haze," said the voice on the other end.

"Yeah, it's me," she answered.

"Did you complete your mission?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, he got away. One of my bullets hit the exit doors. I didn't get a chance to retrieve the bullet. You better send someone to do it. We don't want anyone to suspect anything. I shall resume the hunt tomorrow."

"Be careful."

"Understood." Haze clicked the phone off and proceeded down the street. "How long can I do this?" she said to herself.

Amon walked slowly through the streets, looking for his stepbrother's law firm. It may not have been safe walking through the city, but he couldn't have very well been running. That would have seemed suspicious. His car had been taken into custody by the police, so he was unable to drive. There was no way he was going to attempt at retrieving it from them. Doing so would bring out SOLOMON. They would know where he was.

He stopped in front of a tall building. This was definitely the place. Amon walked up the stairs and headed towards the entrance to Nagira's office. His office still appeared to be open. There were still lights on in the office. Just as Amon went to turn the handle, someone came up behind him, putting their hand on his shoulder.

Amon flinched and threw himself away from the person. To his surprise, the person was Nagira. The man felt a little silly for getting himself so nervous. Normally Amon wasn't jumpy, but he guessed with being hunted and all, he just couldn't help it. He looked at his stepbrother and frowned.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people."

"Heh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." Nagira seemed pleased that he made his younger stepbrother jump as he did. It was amusing to the older man.

"You didn't," said Amon sharply, while tugging the neck of his jacket.

Nagira smiled and shook his head. "Whatever." He reached for the handle to the office door and turned it. "Come on, I have to talk to you," he said leading Amon into the office.

Amon followed behind Nagira, glancing around the office. It seemed a little messier than usual. After the whole ordeal with the factory, Nagira had been behind in his work. More so than usual, which was a lot considering Nagira could be rather lazy when it came to work. He walked over to his desk and looked down. A post-it note sat on it. Hana had left earlier in the day, finally giving up on the absent Nagira. She had left the note on Nagira's desk, saying that he better be there tomorrow and stay there. At the bottom of the note was one more message. It read in bold "NO PACHINKO!"

"Heh, she knows me too well," he said dropping the note into the trash bin next to his desk. 

Amon walked over to a couch near his brother's desk and sat down. Nagira sat down at his desk and reclined, propping his feet up on the desk. He lit up a cigarette and inhaled the thick smoke.

"Those will kill you," said Amon coldly.

Nagira eyed his brother and smiled. He took another puff on the cigarette and blew the smoke towards Amon. "At least it will be something I enjoy that kills me."

Amon just shook his head and made a sound that Nagira could only place as a grunt.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about? Is it about Robin?" he asked.

The older man nodded and sat the cigarette down in an ash tray. "Yeah, it's about Robin."

"Was she found?" Amon in a way, was afraid to hear the answer.

"Well, I guess you could say that. One of my informants passed on a very interesting piece of information to me. Right after that warehouse fire, someone was spotted escaping from the building. It also seemed that someone was with them. This person, has been seen returning to the warehouse for the past couple of days."

Amon stroked his stubby chin. "And you're saying this person is Robin?"

"It could possibly be her. I had my doubts at first, until I was presented with this little piece of evidence," said Nagira; reaching into his coat pocket.

He pulled out a little plastic bag, with a pendant and chain sitting inside of it. Amon recognized the pendant as Robin's. It was the one she always kept with her.

"It's definitely hers," said Amon.

"Just as I thought. So, does this mean Robin had been involved in the warehouse incident?"

"Perhaps, but if so; whom was the person she was escaping from the building with?" asked Amon.

Even Nagira found that answer obvious. "Well, it was you. The time in which it happened seems perfect. One week ago the warehouse blew up and right after, you showed up in the hospital. No one knows how you got there. It must have been Robin that took you there. Thought I don't see how little Robin could have gotten you all the way there. Perhaps someone else is involved."

If that was so, then why did Robin just leave him there? Wouldn't she have been injured too? Why were they ever in that warehouse? Amon's brain was filled with so many unanswered questions. Questions that had to be answered, and the only person whom could was Robin.

Nagira picked up the small bag with the pendant and handed it over to Amon. His stepbrother seemed a little hesitant to take it from him.

"Why are you giving this to me?" he asked curiously.

Nagira smirked and shook his head. "So that you can give it to Robin when you find her," he said.

Amon glared at Nagira and snatched the bag from him. He tucked it neatly into one of his coat pockets. Nagira wasn't sure what the glare was for, but just smiled at Amon. The older man glanced out one of the office windows and sighed.

"What are you looking for?" asked Amon.

As Amon finished that sentence, a knock came at the door. A grinning Nagira, headed towards the door. "I've been looking for this," he said opening the door. Outside the door stood Karasuma, soaked by the newly fallen rain.

"Karasuma, what are you doing here?" asked a stunned Amon.

The hunter walked into the room, taking off her wet jacket and laying it on the coat rack behind the door. "Nagira told me you would be coming here, so I came. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine, but yo haven't fully answered my question yet. Why are you here?"

She smiled and walked over towards Nagira's desk. "Well, since you can't seem to remember anything since the Factory incident, I thought I might can find out what happened to you with my powers." Karasuma noticed the displeased look that formed on Amon's face.

"You don't have to do that."

"Amon, don't you want to know what happened to Robin?" asked an irritated Karasuma.

He just stood there, glancing back and forth at Karasuma and Nagira. It felt to him like an invasion of privacy. Though he did truly want to know what had occurred after the Factory. Amon forcefully nodded his head and walked back over to the couch. Nagira breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his brother sit back down on the couch. Karasuma sat down next to him on the couch and lifted out her hands.

She placed both of her hands on Amon's shoulders, noticing the slight flinch he gave as she put her hands on him. Karasuma inwardly smiled at the sudden movement of the bruting ex-hunter. Quietly she sat there, waiting to feel any sort of emotional or physical sensation that escaped from Amon's aura, but nothing came.

"Anything?" asked Nagira.

Karasuma shook her head and went to speak, but she felt a sudden chill go down her spine. A flood of emotions overtook her. She felt pain and suffering. Everything was dark and pain filled. The pain was not leaving. So many images passed through her mind, that it caused her to grow dizzy.

Suddenly the images stopped and the emotions disappeared. Though she could still see inside of Amon's mind. One image remained within Karasuma's vision. That image was of Robin, lying in a bed unconscious. The image soon switched to one of an insignia, which Karasuma could not identify. Again the image changed, but this time it was of flames engulfing what looked to be a hospital room. 

Karasuma released her grip on Amon and slowly opened her eyes. Amon looked at her curiously. He could tell she had seen something. Hopefully whatever she saw could explain Robin's disappearance.

"What did you see?" asked Nagira.

Karasuma glanced back at both dark haired men and shook her head. "I can't explain it. Everything was so jumbled up."

"Did you see Robin?" asked Amon.

"Yes," she said nodding. "I saw her lying in a bed unconscious. Then I saw a symbol, one which I'd never seen before. After that, I saw a room burning. That's all I can remember."

Amon wasn't pleased by the information. It wasn't enough to tell him everything he wanted to know. He assumed that the room burning meant they had been at that warehouse. If that was the case, than Robin could still be there.

"Well, it's getting late bro. You need to get some rest and I know Miho does too. Tomorrow's going to be a big day," said Nagira. He stood up and threw his right hand over his mouth as he yawned. "I don't want to wake up late and have Hana chew me out again."

Amon shook his head. "No, I don't need to rest." He knew that Nagira would argue with him. Whenever Amon defied his brother, the two of them would fight. The ex-hunter was just waiting for his brother to start lecturing him.

"Whatever."

That was the only response Nagira gave, which caught Amon by surprise. Amon wouldn't question his brother. He nodded and stood up from the couch. The bruiting man walked towards the door of the law office and stopped as he went for the handle.

"Nagira?" he asked monotonously.

"Yeah?" responded the older man curiously.

"If I find her, I will need your help getting out of the country. Can you do that. . . .for me?" he asked.

A smile spread across Nagira's face as he heard his brother's request. If Amon hadn't been facing the door, he would have caught his older stepbrother's gleaming expression. Amon would have been annoyed.

"I'll see what I can do," answered Nagira.

Amon nodded and opened the door, quickly making his way out. Nagira stood at his desk, just staring at the door. He smiled once again, but he wasn't thinking about his brother's request.

"Amon, I hope you find her," he said to himself. He looked over at Karasuma, whom now stood at the door, putting on her coat. It seemed to have been dry now. As she slipped it on, Nagira walked over to open the door for her.

"You be careful," he said smiling. She gave him a smile back and walked out the door. "If you hear anything, please call," she said with nod. Karasuma headed down the stairway, noticing that Amon was no longer around. 'He must be long gone,' she thought.

Nagira closed the door after Karasuma and walked over to the wall where a light switch lay. Just as he was about to flick the lights off, he noticed his cell-phone from the corner of his eye. "Should I?" he asked himself. Nagira had planned to start calling around for his brother tomorrow, but he knew there was a chance that once Amon found Robin; they'd have to take off quickly. "I guess I better get to work," he said walking back to his desk.

STN-J Headquarters

Every night seemed to grow more quiet as the members of the STNJ departed from headquarters. The only person whom remained in the building was Michael. Even though he had been free of Zaizen's collar long ago, he had no where to go. He could go out freely, which he did so. He had grown to miss the late night talks that he and Robin had both had. She was such a nice person and a good friend.

The STNJ was back to its normal self. Ever since the Factory incident, the STNJ had received what Sakaki referred to as "dull cases." Each hunt seemed unbearably boring with the new hunter added to the group. It seemed the new hunter was not a craft user, just a normal human being. Everyone tried their best to welcome the new hunter to the STNJ, but it was hard to accept the new recruit. Michael was the first person to meet the new hunter and this person had an uncanny likeness to a former colleague of the STNJ crew.

As much as Michael tried, he just couldn't trust the new hunter. She called herself Haze, but Michael's research showed that her real name was Minami. It seemed Haze was a nickname that SOLOMON gave her. This girl, just as Robin, had been sent from headquarters. Whenever Michael tried to ask her whether she knew Robin or not, the girl seemed to change the subject. Michael knew why she always avoided his questioning.

Michael sat back in his chair and glanced at the screen. On the screen sat three different windows, one of which held a photo of a demolished warehouse and the others contained articles on the warehouse incident. He read over the captions at the bottom of the pictures and sighed. "I wonder if this is connected to the Factory?"

He reached over to grab his coffee mug, instead accidentally knocking it over a pile of papers that sat on the floor. "Agh! Dammit!" he yelled. Michael rushed to clean off the papers, hoping he could salvage some of them. As he walked off with the papers, a message flashed on his screen.

New Mail!

Subject: The Factory has returned

That's all for chapter 2! Gomen nasai mina! I have had a lot of things happen the last few months, so I haven't gotten to work on my fics any. I've been dealing with college, my sick mother, and whatever else gets thrown at me. --

Well, chapter 2 was much longer than this, but I decided to split it up into 2 chapters. Chapter 3 will be posted later this week. :D Well chapter 3 will present another new character, one whom I'm liking. XD Also, enjoy the little time you've spent with the other STN-J crew. They won't be back for at least a few more chapters.

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors.

Preview of next chapter:

_Enemy or Allie?. . . . . Awkward reunion._ . . . . ._the painful truth. . . ._


	3. A Dark Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: A Dark Truth

Amon walked along what use to be the back alley of the old warehouse that had burned down the week before. The air still smelled of smoke and the ground was littered with debris. "Shouldn't this have been cleaned up by now?" said Amon to himself. He walked towards the only part of the warehouse that remained standing. As the wind began to pick up, Amon could hear the remains of the building move with it. 'I doubt anyone could still be around here.'

He cautiously made his way into the building, glancing around at what remained of the walls. Most of them were charred black, caused by the fire. Along the back wall hung wires and what appeared to be the remains of large tanks, similar to those the Factory kept. Amon ran his fingers across the smooth glass. Something about this tank, seemed familiar. As he looked up towards the top of the tank, Robin's face appeared through the glass.

Amon found himself almost startled. "Robin," he breathed. Her face slowly disappeared from his sight. He stepped away from the tank and looked towards the right side of the room. "I've been in this room before," he said to himself.

"And so has she," said a voice.

Amon spun around, quickly pulling out two revolvers; ready to shoot whomever was there. His guns were soon pointed at a man, whom was perched on top of an a large stone pillar. He grinned at Amon and lifted his hands up in the air. "Come now Amon. Is that really necessary? We just met," said the stranger, jumping down. The man slowly walked towards Amon, stopping when he heard Amon load one of his guns. "Easy mate, I'm not hear to hurt you."

"How am I to believe that?" asked Amon in a very unfriendly tone.

"Hmm. . . ." The man started walking closer to Amon. "Come on now, you don't want to shoot me. After all, I know where that pretty little fire starter of yours is," taunted the man.

Amon was ready to shoot the man, but if he really knew where Robin was, he was taking no chances. "You know where Robin is?" asked Amon inquisitively.

"Aye, I know where the little lovely is. She's been asking about you. Wondering if I really left you for dead. I couldn't let such a lovely little thing cry, so." He paused and rolled his eyes. "I dropped your arse off at the hospital."

Amon could obviously see this man didn't think much of him. "So, where is she? Where are you hiding her?" He kept his voice steady, trying not to yell. Any sudden noise could cause the rest of the building to collapse.

"I'll take you to her," he said walking pass Amon. Amon had his guns ready, just incase the man pulled anything. He watched as the blonde haired man walked outside the building. His long, black leather jacket swayed as he walked. The man's hair was very similar to Amon's cut, but just a bit longer. A pair of red tinted sunglasses sat upon his nose. Underneath the glasses lay a scar, one shaped similar to a cross that sat upon his right cheek.

"Jaden," he said.

"What?" asked Amon.

"The names Jaden," said the man nodding. "Follow me and I'll take you to her," he said pointing towards the woods. "My associates are waiting there." Just as the man started to walk off again, the sound of Amon's other gun loading rang in the man's ears. A smile appeared on his face.

"Why should I trust you?"

Jaden turned around and smirked. He knew that Amon would ask that eventually. "Because there's no one else left to trust in this world." With that, Jaden spun around on his heels and headed towards the woods.

Amon wanted to get some answers from this man, but it seemed the only way he was going to get them, was by following him. It could all be a trap, but Amon would have to risk it. He followed behind Jaden, being very wary of his surroundings. Anything could happen out there.

Soon they both stopped in front of a black vehicle, exactly like the model Amon use to drive. "Get in," said Jaden. The man climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. Amon hesitated for a moment, before finally reaching for the door handle. He sat down in the car, closing the door. As soon as Amon had buckled up, Jaden pressed the locks on the doors. This angered Amon.

"What in the hell are you doing?" spouted Amon angrily. He looked over at Jaden, whom was just smiling.

"Don't worry, just making sure you don't back out," he said hitting the gas. The car flung back, sending Amon flinging against the passenger's seat. Amon watched as the forest zoomed past his window, soon setting the scenes of the city night life. It seemed the car was moving so fast, that the luminous street signs were nothing more than a mere blur in Amon's eyes.

"Where are we going?" asked Amon.

"To my home," he said grinning.

Amon glanced at Jaden and frowned. "What happened at the warehouse? Why do you have Robin?" The man didn't answer. "Answer me!" Amon demanded.

"The warehouse went up in flames because of that little lovely of yours," said Jaden smirking.

"Why would she burn it down?" asked Amon.

"Because I told her to." Jaden glanced over at Amon, whom didn't look all to pleased. "You were both there, because of testing being held by The Factory. Once I heard about what was going on, my team and I went to retrieve you both from the warehouse. Unfortunately, they'd already started testing."

"What were they testing for?"

"It seems they wanted a stronger Orbo to use and they were using Robin as a way of getting it. She is the strongest witch in existence you know." Jaden turned a sharp corner, nearly causing Amon to bang his head against the side window. "Sorry about that," Jaden said nervously.

Amon glared at the man and grunted. "So, why did they want me?" he asked.

"Well, you were a seed up until the Factory collapsed, at least that's what SOLOMON believes. Your powers awakened and you became a witch in the eyes of SOLOMON. The Factory looked at you the same way. They wanted Robin, but once they saw how your body was just healing itself so quickly, they knew your powers had awakened. My guess is that they planned on using you for Orbo too."

Amon hated being reminded that he was now a witch. It still bothered him that his powers had finally awakened. He was being hunted now, but it didn't seem to phase him as much as it should have.

Something still puzzled Amon. If Zaizen was dead, what was the purpose of making more Orbo? Had Zaizen appointed someone else before he died?

"Why make Orbo when the person whom wanted it is dead?" he asked.

Jaden couldn't help but smile at the question. The answer he was about to give was just all too delicious.

"Perhaps they're making it because the person whom wants it isn't dead."

Amon looked at Jaden in disbelief. There was no way Zaizen was alive. He saw Zaizen burn before his very eyes. How could his survival have been possible? The hunter automatically assumed that this guy didn't know what he was talking about. Until he remembered something he had heard at the hospital from the doctor. 'Please go check into the other patient for now.' The other patient, was Zaizen.

"How could he have survived?" asked Amon.

"Oh come now. Haven't you ever heard of people surviving things like that? Sure he may look like a charred piece of meat, but he's still alive and kicking. Also, what makes you think that maybe he doesn't have powers of his own?" asked Jaden.

Amon looked at him strangely. "Zaizen a witch? Ugh, please. Why would Zaizen hunt his own kind?"

"Perhaps he's just as you. He knew what he truly was and wanted to destroy witches. I mean that's just a theory. It doesn't mean he's actually a witch. There's just got to be a reason as to why he started hating witches all those years ago."

Soon the car stopped in front of what seemed to be a large mansion. It was unlike anything Amon had ever seen before. The entire house was decorated in black gothic-style architecture. Something like this didn't seem like it belonged in Japan.

"What kind of place is this?" asked Amon.

"This was built many years ago by my father. He was a witch sympathizer, whom built this as a shelter for those running from SOLOMON. Unfortunately, this is one of four witch sanctuaries that are still up and running. Most of them we had up and running in other parts of the world, were shut down by SOLOMON. I fear that they shall some day discover this one," he said sadly.

"Why did your father sympathize with witches?"

"Because. . . ." Jaden opened the car door and stepped out. "My mother was a witch." He slammed the door shut and proceeded towards the mansion, with Amon following close behind. "Father loved her so much and wished to protect her. So he built these shelters or as SOLOMON calls them 'Witch Sanctuaries' in order to protect our family, as well as others. In the end, he was unable to save my mother and sister. SOLOMON found both of them while they were visiting back home in England. . . . .and killed them both." Jaden stopped at the doors to the mansion. "They never had a chance," he said desolately.

He led Amon inside of the Mansion, not even bothering to show the man around. They walked into what seemed to be a large conference room. Inside sat four figures, all whom were dressed in black. Two of them sat side by side, both women whom looked to about Jaden's age, eighteen. The woman on the left had long, black, curly hair, as the other had short brown hair that reached the tip of her chin. Across from them sat two much older blonde headed men, whom did not seemed amused, sitting with the two women. Apparently the two men were twins or just seemed to have an uncanny resemblance. The four of them looked up as Amon and Jaden approached the table.

"Agh, Jaden! You made it back just in time. We were just talking about. . ." the black woman stopped as she looked at Amon. "Who's that?" she asked curiously. The brown haired woman nudge the other. "Naoko, that is very rude," she hissed.

"This is Amon, a friend of Ms. Sena," said Jaden pulling Amon up in front of him. The dark man just grunted and pulled himself slightly away from Jaden.

"Ooh, so this is the guy she's been asking about so much. He sure is handsome," giggled Naoko. Amon ignored the woman's comment. The man wasn't in the mood for flattery. Not that he ever was anyway.

"Where is Robin?" asked Amon irately.

"I believe she's up in her room right now. I can take you to her. She'll surely want to see you," said the brown haired woman.

Amon nodded and followed behind her. The others remained back at the table, staring at the gloomy ex-hunter. Jaden noticed how Naoko watch Amon's every move. He smirked and sat down at the table alongside her.

"Don't even think about it Naoko. It's not like he's going to be here much longer."

Mariella, the brunette witch, walked up a long spiraling flight of stairs. The staircase was made of metal, colored in back with strange insignias molded into the arm rails. They looked very similar to the pendant that Robin always wore. He wondered if Robin had some association with these people that he was unaware of.

His attention soon set back to the woman in front of him. She stopped in front of a large wooden door, made of oak. On it sat a cross. Amon knew that must have been Robin's room. Mariella knocked on the door twice, awaiting an answer from the other side. No answer came.

"Miss Sena, you have a visitor," she said.

Still no answer came from the other side. Amon didn't have a good feeling about this. Perhaps Robin wasn't there after all and this was a trap? Or maybe she was there and was in trouble.

"Go in," demanded Amon.

The woman nodded and slowly opened up the door. Both of them peered inside the room. No one was there. Mariella ran into the room in a panic. "What!? Where did she go?" she yelled thunderstruck.

"What do you mean where did she go?" asked Amon angrily.

Mariella glanced over at the set of glass doors, the led to the balcony. Two shadows appeared in front of the curtains, that hung over the doors. "Ah! She must be out there speaking with someone. I guess you can just wait here until she's done talking," said Mariella walking off.

Amon wasn't just going to stand there and wait. He walked towards the doors, which were cracked open. The man went to push the door open, but stopped when he heard a voice. Whomever Robin was speaking with sounded irate. Even though Amon didn't like prying into other people's matters, he listened in on their conversation.

"Are you sure?" asked Robin.

The man that stood next to her frowned. He looked exactly like Jaden, which meant he was his twin. Though he did not have a scar on his face like his brother.

"You know if he finds you, he will kill you," he said coldly.

"How do you know that? He didn't kill me before."

"And what makes you think he won't now!?" yelled the man angrily.

"Because Amon wouldn't. . . ." That is all Robin managed to slip out before the man started to yell at her again.

"Are you that naive? He will kill you if he finds out. . . ." The man stopped as he heard the balcony doors open. Both of them turned towards the doors, to see Amon.

"Finds out what?" asked Amon in an inert tone.

Robin looked at Amon stunned. He was actually there and alive. A slight smile came to her face upon seeing him, but soon faded. She wondered how much of the conversation he had just heard. "You're here," she breathed.

Amon nodded and walked up to her. "What were you two talking about?" he asked, glancing over at the man that stood beside Robin. The look the man was giving Amon could be described as deadly.

"We were. . ." She couldn't spit it out. Robin wanted to tell Amon the truth, but she new doing so could put her in danger.

"We were discussing how Ms. Sena has been training here. It seems after the whole Factory and Warehouse incident, her powers became weaker. So we've been training her. I felt that if you found out, you would think she was going to become too strong."

Amon understood what the man meant, but didn't believe him. They seemed to be hiding something else. Obviously he was lying, seeing as when one is trying to keep a secret; they don't tell the person from which they are keeping it from so blatantly. He turned his attention back towards Robin, whom stood there quietly looking at Amon. Something about her seemed different. She still looked the same physically, but he could tell emotionally she was different. Her eyes told him so.

"Are you alright?" Amon asked with his usual flat tone.

Robin nodded and gave him a slight smile. "They've taken good care of me here. Especially Jonathan, whom you just met. So, how are you doing?" she asked.

"Fine," he answered.

Amon looked over at the mysterious man and glared. The man smiled and turned towards the door. "Well I leave you two alone to talk. I'm heading back to talk with Jaden. Tell me if you need anything, either of you," he said walking off.

As the man exited through the doors, Amon's attention switched back to chestnut haired witch. She seemed to be avoiding him. He walked up beside her, leaning his elbows against the edge of the balcony. "How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Seven days, but I never wanted to come here to begin with. Jaden told me that if I went to the hospital like you, there was a greater chance that SOLOMON would attack there. They want me dead so badly, that they'd risk it," she said sadly.

"Do you remember anything from the warehouse?" he asked curiously.

Robin looked away from Amon, biting her lower lip. "No, I don't remember anything." She tried to avert her eyes from the man, whom stared down at her. The way he looked at her made the girl feel uncomfortable.

Amon knew she was lying, but wasn't going to push it any further. He noticed a small scar on her right hand. It looked like a scar left from a needle. "What happened to your hand?" he asked.

She clutched her right hand with her left, rubbing it as if it throbbed with pain. "I was told it was from the experiments done on me. This was thankfully the only scar left on me. There are bruises on my arms that were left from the experiments."

He could see the pain she had been through. She was so young, yet had to endure so much. Amon believed it a crime, for someone of her age to have gone through the things she had. Somehow, he knew staying here wouldn't keep SOLOMON away. They had to go, to get out of the country. The farther away they were from SOLOMON, The Factory, and The STN-J, the better.

"Get your things," he said.

Robin looked at him in disbelief. "Why? Is something wrong?" she asked. She knew better than to question him, but this just seemed odd. After all, it was safe there, well at least she thought so.

"I want to leave here Robin. It isn't safe. SOLOMON will eventually find you."

Outside of Robin's bedroom stood Jaden, with a cell phone against his ear. He was glancing through the cracked door at the two individuals that stood out on the balcony. A smile came to his face, as he spoke with the person on the other end.

"So, what do you want me to do? They're both here now," he said.

"_Just wait there. I'll be there as soon as I can."_

"I think that Amon fellow will make an attempt to leave. What should I do if he tries?" he asked.

_"Shoot him."_

"And what about Ms. Sena?" he asked.

_"You have that Orbo gun don't you?"_

"Yes, understood. I will only resort to using it if they try to force their way out of here."

Amon stormed into Robin's room, not expecting Jaden to be there. The man was just putting away his cell phone when the two ex-hunters approached. Jaden could tell by the look on Amon's face, that the man was ready to leave. He smiled and shook his head.

"Going somewhere?" he asked slyly.

"We're leaving," said Amon abruptly.

Robin watched the two men face each other. Both seemed to be mentally tossing daggers in the other's direction. From what she could tell, Amon hadn't taken a liking to Jaden and vice versa. She hoped this wouldn't end ugly.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said Jaden.

"And why is that?" asked Amon. His eyes widened as Jaden rose a gun up to meet the ex-hunter's eyes.

"Because, I had direct orders for you not to leave."

Amon's eyes slowly shifted to their normal size, then narrowing. He knew this guy was trouble. "You can not keep us here," he said daringly stepping forward.

Robin went to stop Amon, fully knowing what Jaden would do next. Much to her distress, Jaden did exactly what she hoped he wouldn't. He pulled the trigger.

**End of Chapter**

Wow, I finished Chapter 3. stares in awe I don't know how I liked the ending of this chapter, but I'll go with it lol. The next chapter will get interesting. Did Amon survive or is he dead? I hope not!!!! sobs Also, we'll learn what's up with this Jaden fellow. . Anywho, I hope Amon and Robin seem in character. I try to keep them that way. If they seem a little OOC, sorry it's not intentional.

Well this chapter would have been up earlier, if it wasn't for the fact that my brother screwed up my laptop. It's only about 3 or 4 months old and he's managed to destroy it in only two days. -- I hope I can get this fixed. ;; Anywho, thank you all very much for the reviews! huggles

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)

Preview of next chapter:

_An unexpected Allie. . . . . Saddened Memories._ . . . . ._Lies and Deceit. . . ._


	4. Broken Alliance

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Broken Alliance

Throughout the room rang the sound of a bullet exiting Jaden's gun. Amon watched the bullet trail closer to his skull, but did not dare move. Somehow the ex-hunter knew his partner would drive the bullet off course, which thankfully she did. He heard Jaden's displeased hiss as the bullets fell lifelessly to the ground.

Amon backed away from his attacker, rubbing his right knuckle across his face. Robin's flames had lightly nipped him. He watched the petite body beside him from the corner of his eye.

"That wasn't a wise thing to do love," said Jaden flicking a piece of hair from in front of his face. He grinned and reached towards his other gun holster. Before he could grab the Orbo gun from it, he heard Amon's guns load. The man looked up to see both Amon's guns drawn, pointed straight at him.

"Who are you?" demanded Amon.

Jaden threw his head back, chuckling and then forward; grinning devilishly at the dark haired man. "I've already told you who I am," he chuckled. The sly witch started walking towards Robin. Amon's guns pressed against Jaden's chest as he tried to approach Robin.

"That's far enough," breathed Amon.

The witch looked at Amon irate. "I'd lower those if I were you," he said whipping out the Orbo gun. He had the barrel pointed straight at Robin. "One shot of this would kill her you know. The bullets in this gun hold triple the amount of Orbo that one normal Orbo bullet carries. You wouldn't want one of these baby's in her would you?" he asked grinning.

Amon snarled, glancing over at Robin and back at Jaden. "She can throw off your attacks."

"Dare to find out?" he said.

Much to Amon's surprise, Jaden pulled the trigger. Robin instantly dodged the bullet, causing it to only graze her shoulder. She clutched her shoulder, looking at the little bit of green liquid that had escaped from the bullet.

"Just that little bit has disabled your powers love. You'll be of no use for hours," grinned a very satisfied Jaden. "Should I try again?" he asked tauntingly tapping the trigger.

Amon kept the guns pointed at Jaden, but hesitantly lowered them. "Why do you want us?" asked Amon.

"Hmm, it's quite simple really. As long as I give SOLOMON the Devil's Child, they'll give me what I want."

"And what do you want?" asked Robin.

Jaden smiled at the chestnut-haired witch, tilting his head to the side. "To protect my kind."

Amon stared at the man as if he were insane. "But is she not one of your kind?" he asked coldly. He did not notice the look of hurt that come to Robin's face as he spoke of her that way.

"That she is. . .but often one. . ." Jaden lifted the other gun towards Amon once again. "Or should I say two lives, must be given up for the sake of millions."

"That's quite enough Jaden," said a voice.

Jaden paused and looked towards the balcony. A woman slowly walked into the room. Her black coat danced in the wind as she passed Amon and Robin. Amon recognized the woman; she was the one whom let him go the night before.

Robin gasped, looking at the woman in disbelief. "Minami," she breathed.

"You know her?" asked Amon curiously.

"Yes, we had met back at the convent in Italy a few years ago." Robin stepped forward, to get a better look at the woman. "I thought you had died."

The woman smiled and started to laugh. "Yes, that's what most thought. SOLOMON had sent me to America to handle some business. I had remained there until the Factory incident. That's when they decided to assign me to the STN-J. My main assignment was to locate both of you, using the members of the STN-J. Unfortunately it didn't seem to work, so I had to enlist the help of others," she said walking towards Robin.

Amon protectively stepped in front of Robin, keeping her away from Haze. Robin tugged on the arm of his jacket in protest. He looked down at her and huffed. The man didn't trust this woman at all, but Robin seemed to. Robin was determined to confront the woman. He stepped to the side, warily watching the two talk. If Haze tried anything, he'd be ready.

"So you are here to kill me?" asked Robin.

Haze looked over at Jaden, and back at Robin. "Yes, that was what I was sent to do," she said pulling out her gun. "And I intended on carrying out my orders." She swung around and pointed the gun at Jaden. ". . .But. . ."

The gun went off, leaving Jaden no means as to escaping nor defending himself. His body was thrown against the wall, due to the impact of the bullet. Robin turned her face away at the site. Amon sneered at the bloody scene.

"Why?" asked Robin sadly.

Haze put away her gun, smiling as she did so. "Because, I made a promise that I must keep," she said turning towards Robin and Amon.

"But how are you associated with him?" asked Amon tilting his head towards the crumbled body lying against the wall.

Haze looked over at the blood-soaked body. "SOLOMON wanted Robin disposed of by any means necessary. Even if that meant making deals with witches. I told Jaden about what the Factory was planning and he sent his team to retrieve you both. By doing this, I told him that SOLOMON swore to not touch a single witch that harbored themselves within this mansion and the others. He believed it and got Robin."

"But why? If you never intended on killing me, than why did you want me? What is this promise?" asked Robin curiously.

"And how did you know what the Factory was doing?" asked Amon

"Because, I was told to protect you by Father Juliano. He knew that SOLOMON would still pursue the hunt against you, so he asked me to find you. You have no idea what SOLOMON has planned. About me knowing the Factory's plans? Well, lets just say I have informants."

"What does SOLOMON have planned? Jaden said it involved Orbo," said Amon.

"Yes, it did involve the Orbo. Zaizen left orders with his scientists before you came to confront him at the Factory. Those orders were to capture you both before SOLOMON if he was killed. Needless to say he was believed to be killed and his orders were carried out. When I received word of what the Factory was doing, I also passed the word to SOLOMON. I expected the order to stop the Factory, but not the order to kill you both." Jaden reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it over to Amon.

"This was the order given out by Davis Stretten, the new head of SOLOMON."

Amon looked over the note and handed it over to Robin. "I thought Father Juliano was the head of SOLOMON?" asked Amon.

Haze walked over towards the balcony; staring out at the landscape. "Father Juliano was asked to step down from his position after dismissing the hunt on Robin. Many SOLOMON leaders, including Stretten were furious by the sudden change. So Stretten found a way to make Juliano resign. Now Juliano has no power within SOLOMON, but he still has enough contacts to know what's going on."

"Now that he has no power, he can not truly protect Robin. So how is it that he enlisted the help of one as yourself?" Amon asked curiously.

"Well, I've always been a faithful SOLOMON agent until now. Though they still believe I am. I have known Juliano since I was a child and trusted him more than anyone. So I felt that I must remain faithful to him. . .and Robin," she said slightly smiling at Robin.

Before Amon or Robin could respond, Haze walked up to Amon and held out a set of car keys. "You both must leave now. If you don't, SOLOMON will surely get you. Now drive back to Nagira's office, but leave the car a few blocks away. He will be waiting there for the both of you. Nagira will tell you more once you get there."

"But what about the Factory testing? Why were the tests done on us for Orbo? If they planned on using us for Orbo, why hadn't they done so?" Amon asked coldly.

"As I said, Nagira will tell you more," hissed Haze. She pointed towards the balcony. "Get going now! The car is in the garage waiting."

Robin wanted to say something, anything to her old friend. Yet she couldn't find anything to say to her. After all these years, she finds the friend she believe to be dead, alive. "Thank you," she finally said. 'It's better than nothing' she thought to herself.

The drive to Nagira's office was quite awkward and quiet for the two ex-hunters. Neither one spoke a word to the other. Truthfully neither could think of anything to say. It had been only two weeks since their last meeting, yet it seemed like years.

Nagira stood at the window to his office, peering out at the busy street. He had been waiting there ever since he had received the phone call from Haze. The phone call was most unexpected, seeing as he knew nothing about this woman yet she seemed to want to help his brother and Robin. Though he felt uneasy for trusting the woman, he had no other choice. It seemed the only way Robin and Amon could leave Japan would be by the means of this woman and Father Juliano. It had been nearly one hour since the phone call and in that time he had managed to run a few errands. Though Hana had thoroughly scolded him for doing so.

Amon and Robin exited the black car, which was the same model as the one Jaden had driven earlier that day. Both walked down the bustling street, looking around cautiously for anyone whom seemed suspicious. Though Amon thought if anyone appeared to be suspicious on the street, it had to be them. Robin was still her usual attire of a pilgrim dress with a crimson overcoat and Amon wore his favorite black jacket. Anyone from above could easily pick out the both of them, seeing as they blended into the crowd like a pair of black cats blend into a pack of white wolves.

When they finally arrived at the door to Nagira's office, they heard what appeared to be a shouting match from inside. Robin recognized both voices immediately. From what she gathered, it appeared Nagira had cancelled his appointments for the day and Hana was not at all pleased. The girl had witnessed matches as these many times. She had always ended up being in the middle of the two quarreling adults, asked which one was right and which was wrong.

"Hmm, sounds like Nagira is the same as always," Robin whispered.

Amon slightly grinned as he listened to them fight. To him, there was nothing better than hearing his lazy brother get chewed out. He didn't understand why, but it just seemed so satisfying to him.

Robin reached up to knock her small knuckles against the door, but the door swung open. Luckily Robin pulled her hand back in time to keep from hitting a very angry Hana in the face. Hana hadn't as much as looked at Robin nor Amon. Her head was still turned towards Nagira, who sat at his desk, nursing his reddened cheek. It appeared Hana out of anger, slapped him.

"I am tired of you doing this! This is the third time this week that you've cancelled your appointments. What will your clients begin to think? I surely know what they're thinking. 'That Mr. Nagira must not care about his client's well-being.' 'He is a lazy old dog that only worries about getting money without working.' That's exactly what they're thinking and it's true!" She yelled furiously.

"I am leaving and I'm not coming back for the rest of the week!"

She turned to walk out the door but stopped as she stood in front of the two ex-hunters. Hana was about to scold the two for standing in her way, until she recognized one of them. Her angered face smoothed out as she looked straight into Robin's eyes.

"Ro—Robin?" she asked in disbelief.

The witch nodded and smiled. "It's good to see you again."

Hana could barely believe what she was seeing. She thought she was looking at a completely different Robin than she had seen weeks before. The girl seemed as if she had gone through years of turmoil. "You came back," she said with a slight smile.

"You two need to get inside before someone sees you," whispered Nagira, whom was standing directly behind Hana.

"Before someone sees them? What on Earth are you talking about?" asked Hana thunderstruck.

"We'll talk about it after these two come in. Lock the door behind you," he said motioning to Amon.

The four settled down in the office, all staring at each other as if one of them would drop dead at any second. Robin noticed the way Hana's eyes kept racing from Amon to herself. She realized that Hana had never been introduced to Amon. Nor did she even know that he was Nagira's stepbrother.

"So, what were you saying out there? You know, about them getting inside before someone saw them?" asked Hana curiously.

Amon wasn't sure how much information he wanted disclosed to this woman. He was sure Nagira would start telling her everything. Before Nagira could even have a chance open his mouth, Amon spoke up.

"Some men are hunting the both of us." He decided that giving her only a little info at the time would be safe. As she asked questions, he would find a way to answer them that didn't give her incriminating information.

"Why are they hunting you?" She turned towards Robin and frowned. "You're not running from the law are you? What did you and your little lover over here get yourself into ?" she scoffed, throwing her hands onto her hips.

Nagira turned his face away from the group, trying to keep his composure. The look that had come to Robin and Amon was priceless in his opinion. Amon looked like he wanted to pluck his head into the ground. Robin was about as embarrassed as Amon, who's cheeks had turned a bright hue of red.

"I did nothing," Robin said innocently, trying to ignore the last comment. Somehow even with the softness of her voice, that didn't seem believing to the woman. It was hard to even talk after hearing Hana say something like that.

"These men just hunt you for being slightly different. If they sense any abnormalities with you, they feel that they must hunt you." Amon was trying the best he could to steer the conversation away from SOLOMON and the STN-J.

"And what do you mean by different?" she asked.

"Things like if you just heal too quickly or have exceptional speed," said Robin quite abruptly. Amon hadn't expected her to answer and in a way he was glad she had. He hadn't quite figured out the answer to her question.

"Really? Why hunt people like that? I mean if I had extraordinary hearing, they might hunt me?" she asked sarcastically.

Robin could tell at this point that Hana didn't believe a word either of them were saying. She nodded and waited to see what the woman would say next. Instead, Nagira cleared his throat and broke into the conversation.

"Yep, so you better be careful Hana. They might come after you next!" he said jokingly. He looked over at the woman and soon his smile faded into a livid frown. "It was a joke."

"Nagira, you talked with Haze?" asked Amon, trying to change subjects.

"Ah yeah, she called after you guys left to tell me you were on the way. She said that you were to stay here until further instructions. Seems Juliano has plans for you two."

"Father Juliano has plans for us?" asked Robin in disbelief.

"Yep, it sounds like he's setting it up so you two can get out of Japan. Don't worry little brother, I don't think he's trying anything."

Hana nearly fell out of her seat as she heard the word 'brother' coming from Nagira. "He's _your _brother!?" she asked dazed. When she caught the slight nod from Nagira, she began to laugh. "You must be kidding me. I would never have thought it." She eyed both of them. "Hmm, I do see some similarities. Though from the looks of it, I'd say he does more work than your worthless hide," she scoffed.

"Hey, that hurts you know," Nagira joked. He walked to the window behind his desk, smiling as he looked out. "Yep, he's my little stepbrother. You wouldn't think it, considering how standoffish he is."

Amon grunted at that comment. "I have reason to be."

"And why is that?" asked Hana.

"I believe the next thing he'll say is 'it's none of your concern' and leave it at that," laughed Nagira.

The ex-hunter just glared at the older man. He then looked out the corner of his eye at the seat next to him. Robin sat there quietly listening. She seemed very still, too still in Amon's opinion. Her hands were folded together, lying in her lap. Amon noticed that they were slightly shaking.

An hour passed before Nagira was finally able to get Hana out of the office. By this time, Robin and Amon had grown weary. Neither seemed intent on continuing their discussion of Juliano and their move. Nagira had told the two to remain in the apartment upstairs, the same one that Robin had stayed in weeks before.

It hadn't changed much, except for the small couch that lay in front of the windows. Robin wondered whom would be taking the only bed in the room, but Amon had already taken his place on the couch. Near the door of the room sat the food Nagira had managed to pick up on his way back from the Pachinko parlor. The chestnut-haired witch had declined eating and instead, proceeded to bed. Amon couldn't help but worry, something he rarely did. Something just wasn't right with Robin.

For the following week, everything pretty much remained the same. Nagira had both of them doing little tasks around the office to keep busy, while trying to keep Hana from hounding Robin for every little mistake she made. Even Amon was ready to bite the woman's head off for her constant lecturing. During breakfast Robin usually helped Hana file paperwork, while Amon and Nagira ate quietly watching the two women work. Lunch seemed to be the only time Robin joined the two to eat. Amon wasn't quite sure why she insisted on being so busy all day.

Soon the week had passed and Amon lain awake on the couch, staring up at the ceiling like usual. Nothing could have sent him to sleep that night. The dark haired man laid their thinking of all the events from the past week. So much had happened and yet so much still needed to be explained. Jaden, Haze, nor Nagira had given him all the information that he sought after. No one would tell him what this master plan for Orbo was.

Amon turned onto his side, facing the bed where Robin lay. Though it was far off the ground, he could still see the young woman's bed untouched. He sat up and looked around. Robin was gone.

"Robin," he called out. No answer came from the bed above him. He got up from the couch and walked towards the doorway. Slowly he slipped on his jacket and slid into his shoes. Amon knew something was terribly wrong. It wasn't like Robin to suddenly disappear during the night.

He stepped out into the cold night air, nearly falling back at the force of the wind. Nagira had told him earlier that they'd be expecting bad weather, but Amon hadn't imagined anything this bad. The sky was thick with rain and lightning ripped through the black clouds. Off in the distance he could hear the booming thunder, slowly approaching.

Amon glanced down at the door to his brother's office. The lights were off, but the door was cracked. He stepped down until he was standing right in front of the door, which he began to open but stopped. From where he stood, he could hear to voices quietly hissing to each other.

Nagira sat at his desk, glaring intently at Robin whom looked absolutely guilt-ridden. Amon could tell Nagira had been giving Robin a hard time about something, but what he didn't know. It wasn't like Nagira to get overly mad with her like that.

"You have to tell him," he said, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand.

"But Nagira," she said softly. "How do I know for sure? I mean, Haze could have been lying."

"I doubt it kiddo. Haze seemed positive about it. After all, that would explain why SOLOMON's so intent on hunting you now. Don't you agree?"

Robin slowly nodded and sighed. "I suppose so. Though, I don't see how this is connected with Orbo," she said innocently.

Nagira smiled, "don't tell me you can't piece it together Robin? I thought you were smart," he teased. "On a serious note, what are you going to do?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I don't know," she answered, her voice horse and shaky. It was beginning to take all the energy in her not to breakdown in front of Nagira. "I just don't know."

He put one hand on her shoulder and smiled, trying his best to cheer up the pain stricken girl. Of course nothing he could say could possibly help the situation. "Everything will be fine, don't worry about it," he said. Nagira wasn't sure if that was the best thing to say to her. It only seemed to put her in an even more depressed mood. "At least you've got your health, that counts for something doesn't it?" he joked.

Not since Robin had arrived had Nagira managed to sneak a smile out of Robin, until that very moment. Her smile seemed to make all the gloom that once filled the room disperse. Even Amon felt his heart lift at the site of her smile. Of course, he still had no idea what had made her so depressed in the first place.

"Listen, I talked to Haze right after you two went up to the apartment. It seems Juliano has set up a little place out in the countryside. She said there are a few more homes around it, mostly owned by some old folk. You two will be staying there unless SOLOMON receives word that you're there. As of now, they think you two are headed for the United States. Haze had it set up to look like you two boarded for there earlier today. Of course SOLOMON will spend a good while in America looking for you two, so you should be safe here for now."

"How did she set it up?"

"She didn't tell me. All she said was that she set it up to look like you two went there. That's about it. SOLOMON assumes that you two would want to make it out of the country, since that seems like the most logical thing to do. Haze knows how they think, so she can stay one-step ahead of them." Nagira looked towards the door and froze. He spotted Amon standing right at the door.

He scrambled to his feet, panicking over how much of their conversation his little brother had just heard. "Amon!" he choked. Nagira mentally kicked himself for the way he was acting. The poor guy was acting like he had just done something terribly naughty and had been caught.

Robin just sat there staring at Amon. She was thinking just as Nagira. 'How much did he hear of our conversation?' "Is everything alright Amon?" she asked in her usual peaceful tone.

"No, everything is not alright," said Amon, pulling the door open and making his way into the room. "You two are hiding something from me and I want to know what that something is," he said coldly.

Nagira and Robin both looked at each other uneasily. Both knew something they didn't dare want to tell Amon. How could they tell him without getting shot at? Well, at least that was the question Nagira was asking himself. Robin was more worried about how Amon would feel if he knew the truth. None of this was fun to her, seeing as she never liked lying to people she truly trusted.

"Amon, you might want to sit down for this," said Nagira, motioning for his brother to sit on the couch.

The ex-hunter slightly shook his head and grunted. "Just get on with it." He knew what Nagira would do next. It what he usually did when he was in a situation like this, stall as long as possible.

"Well first off I think I should tell you what Haze said."

"I heard everything you said about Haze."

"Okay, so I guess you heard about the house?"

"Yes."

"And the setup in America."

"Yes."

"And about the—."

"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" spat the man. 'I knew he'd stall for as long as he could.'

Nagira cleared his throat and glanced over at Robin. He wasn't sure if he _really_ wanted to be the one to tell him the truth. Robin wasn't sure if she wanted Nagira telling him either. "I'll tell him Nagira," she said quietly. The girl's voice nearly made the man jump through the ceiling. Nagira had never been so nervous before. Of course he should have been, since he was fixing to tell his little brother news he knew he wouldn't like.

Robin smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress, trying to buy herself a little time before she spoke. She wasn't sure how to tell him everything, without bursting into tears. Amon at times could be pretty scary and she was afraid he would end up that way after she told him the truth.

She cleared her throat and spoke slowly, focusing on each word that came out of her mouth. "When we were both at the factory, tests were performed for the purpose of making Orbo."

"Well I know that already," scoffed Amon.

"I know, but there's more to it. You see, you were only used for part of the testing. They didn't see much need for you. I on the other hand, was the main focus of their project."

"Because of your powers?"

"Yes, and they used you because of your own powers. The ones you had not yet known you held. They were using us to make the most powerful Orbo ever produced."

"And how were they planning to do that? If they were going to use us for Orbo, wouldn't we have ended up like those poor bastards at The Factory?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly us—," Robin paused as she heard a knock.

The group glanced over at the door, where Haze stood. As she opened the door, Amon noticed a figure standing behind her. He watched her walk into the room, followed by someone Amon automatically recognized. If it wasn't for the fact there was no scar on his face, he would have assumed the man following Haze had been Jaden.

"What is he doing here?" snapped Amon, taking the group by surprise.

"Easy tiger, he's with us. He's one of my contacts," Haze said, pointing at the man.

"We've got a problem," Jonathan breathed. He was nearly out of breath, after following Haze here. "It's Jaden."

"What about him? " Robin asked befuddled.

"He's not dead."

Finally I finished chapter 4! hides from angry mob Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've had a lot of things going on at home, mostly taking care of my mom. College started back and I'm taking Photography, Spanish, and Art History and Appreciation. I am staying pretty busy in all 3 courses and just recently had to drop Digital Video Editing, due to the work overload. So fanfic writing hasn't been a priority. When I have a little free time, I work on a fic. XD

Anywho, there's the chappie. I though Amon and Robin were just a bit OOC in this chapter, but it was intentional. Amon was trying to be as cheerful as Amonly possible. He doesn't like seeing Robin hurting, though he won't automatically admit it. The next chapter will start to expose some of the secrets that is being kept about the Orbo experiments. BTW, if you have trouble understanding anything, tell me. XP I will try to better explain whatever it is you're confused about.

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)

Preview of next chapter:

_The truth revealed. . .awkward moments. . .all alone._


	5. Stretten

Thanks to Crossfade's single _Cold, _I was able to finish this chapter and the next two. XD Very good song BTW. Just a warning, tis a long chappie. o.O;

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Stretten

The room grew silent as Haze gave the alarming news. No one, not even Amon, could find the words to show their utter shock. Though their faces told Haze enough. She was just as surprised as they were and she was the one giving the news.

"How. . .is he alive?" Robin stuttered.

"It seems my bullets didn't kill him," said Haze glaring at Jonathan. "I didn't know he was a _healer_," she hissed.

"_Healer_? You mean someone that heals themselves quickly like me?" asked Amon.

"Yes, unfortunately I didn't hit him in the exact spot I meant to. So when we all left the mansion, he got up and walked off. So that means Jaden's still alive and searching for you both. He's determined to turn Robin into SOLOMON."

"And what about you? Did you have any part in wanting to turn Robin over to SOLOMON?" Amon asked Jonathan. The ex-hunter mentally smiled as he saw the way Jonathan shrieked back at his question.

"No, of course not. That would be going against what we've been doing for years. I mean, turning in Robin would be going against our organization. We save witches, not turn them in even for the sake of others," Jonathan said in a slightly quivering tone.

'This is just great,' Robin thought to herself. 'Not only is SOLOMON after me, but Jaden too. What's next?'

"I also received some information from an informant about The Factory. Zaizen is conscious now and knows that Robin's still alive. He's asked his men to seek her out," said Haze in a quite putout tone.

'I just had to ask.' Too many things were happening and Robin felt closed in. They could possibly find her any moment. If they found her and Amon there, not only would they kill them both, but Nagira too. Surely they would discover Haze's deceit and kill her as well. Could she allow this to happen? Could she live the rest of her life on the run?

"So will we be leaving a lot sooner than expected?" asked Amon, whom at the moment was feeling the same as Robin.

"Yes, you two will have to move out by tomorrow. Any later and we risk someone finding you. There's no other choice. I hadn't expected for this to happen so soon, but with Jaden and those scientists looking for Robin too. . ." Haze paused as she glanced over at her chestnut-haired friend. The poor girl looked as if she may collapse at any moment. "Robin?" she asked worried.

Amon turned to Robin, whom had paled a sickly color of white. She suddenly didn't look like the sweet girl Amon had met all those months ago. Before he could even speak a word to her, Robin took off towards the door.

"Robin!" yelled the crowd as Robin ran out the door.

She bolted towards the apartment, ignoring the calls of her comrades. All of Robin's emotions seemed to be swimming around inside of her. Weariness had set upon her fragile body and she felt nauseated as the thought of her being hunted plagued her mind.

Robin threw open the apartment door and slammed it shut, locking it in the process. All the emotions that had been bottled up inside of her spilt out as she slid to the floor. She had never felt like this before. Not even when SOLOMON had gone after her the first time had she felt like this. It felt like her world was ending.

Amon banged on the door, utterly confused as to why Robin had just taken off as she had. 'What could she possibly be thinking?' he thought to himself. He glanced through the little window that set upon the door. It had taken him a moment to finally catch sight of her, her small frame lying in front of the door. "Robin, open up this door!" he yelled, not meaning to sound as harsh as he just had.

"Robin open the door now!" he said, this time sounding a bit more sincere than before. He jiggled the door knob, cursing under his breath at Robin's actions. As much as he would have liked to stay patient, his patience were growing thin. "ROBIN! Open this damn door!"

Amon wanted to bust out the window on the door, but decided against it, seeing as Robin was right underneath the window. He wanted to talk to her face to face, but how could he with her blocking the door? All he could do was talk to her from out there.

"Amon," said a muffled voice from behind the door.

"Yes." 'At least she's talking now,' he thought to himself.

"I want to turn myself in to SOLOMON," she said, nearly choking up.

Her comment had nearly knocked the man off his feet. "Turn yourself in!?" he said angrily. 'How can she think of such a stupid thing to do?'

"If I don't, they'll come after everyone and I don't want that to happen." She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her sleeve and sniffled. "We'll be running for the rest of our lives. They are determined to have me dead now and will never stop their search for me."

Amon suddenly remembered their conversation before Haze and Jonathan had arrived. She was fixing to tell him what he had been waiting to hear for so long. "Robin. . .why is SOLOMON so determined to kill you?" he asked, feeling his body grow heavy. He wasn't sure if he _really_wanted to hear the answer.

Robin slowly stood up, turning her back towards the door. She was trying to regain her composure, but the tears kept coming. "Because. . ." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'Just tell him.'

"Would you two keep it down please!?" hissed Haze through gritted teeth.

Amon turned towards the woman and glared. It seemed not even his glare had an affect on the woman. She just glared back.

"Robin," said Haze walking towards the apartment door. "Don't give up so easily. You're a strong person and you'll make it through this. Everyone here is looking out for you; you're not alone in all of this."

"What were you about to tell me Robin?" Amon said, nearly ready to swing at anyone else that interrupted him.

"Come on Robin, you need to open this door. We need to go over a few things before you two leave." Haze went for the doorknob, but backed off as it began to turn. A smile came to her face as Robin pulled the door back and faced her. "Good, now come on," she said grabbing her by the arm.

Amon just stood there, watching the two walk back to the office. 'Why does it seem like no one wants to tell me the truth? What is it about the Orbo that they are keeping from me?' Perhaps when they got out of here, he could finally manage to get something out of Robin. He was starting to hate the way Robin was acting.

Haze walked Robin back into the office and sat her down at the couch. "Listen Robin, Nagira and Jonathan will tell you everything you need to know before leaving. I need to run back to STNJ Headquarters and do some research for Juliano," she said, patting Robin on the shoulder.

The girl nodded and slightly smiled. "Thank you."

"Take care of her, alright?" said Haze, glaring at Amon.

Amon wasn't sure what the glare was for, but nodded. "What do you have to research for Juliano?" asked Amon inquisitively.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," she said with a wink. Haze smiled and walked towards the door, leaving Amon and the others bewildered. None of them seemed to know what Haze was up to.

STNJ Headquarters

Michael sat back at his desk, staring at the screen as if he expected something amazing to happen. 'Come on, flash again' he thought to himself. For the past week he had been receiving messages from an unknown person, claiming that the Factory had returned. It seemed that every single time these messages appeared, he was the only one in the office. The only person he had mentioned the message to was Miho. She was the only one he seemed to deem trustworthy. Doujima had proven far too many times that she couldn't keep a secret.

He was glad to know Amon was alive and well. Hopefully he would soon find Robin and get out of the country. If Michael could, he'd find a way to help them both, but unfortunately SOLOMON was watching them closer than ever. Haze was also someone Michael found himself having to watch out for. He still did no trust that woman.

The young hacker sat back in his chair, staring at the computer screen. "Nothing," he said to himself. For nights he had tried to uncover some information about The Factory, anything that would be of use. Yet he could find a single thing. If the Factory had returned, they were keeping themselves concealed pretty well. He began typing in the names of the few Factory workers he knew of, but unfortunately all the results came back blank. "Damn," he breathed.

"What's the matter?" asked a sly voice from behind him.

He turned around to see Haze, peering over him at the screen. "Oh, doing research on the Factory, eh?"

"What does it matter to you?" snapped Michael. He didn't appreciate this woman spying on him.

"Tsk tsk. . .no need to be rude to me. I just asked a simple question. It doesn't matter to me if you're researching the Factory. After all, I'm fixing to do it myself," she said with a mischievous grin.

"What? Why would you be researching them now?" he asked curiously.

"I want to know where they're hiding now," she said, clicking on the computer next to Michael. She sat down next to him, not noticing the look of confusion that had come to his face.

"Where they're hiding now?"

"Yes, where they're hiding now. You do realize they've reorganized themselves, correct?" Michael nodded, lowering an eyebrow at the woman. "And how do you know the reorganized themselves? Did you send me that email?" he asked.

She smiled and looked over at the boy. 'So he finally figured it out. I guess I didn't make it very obvious' "Yes, I sent it to you. I was hoping you would have figured it out on your own, but you're not as cunning as I once thought."

"You left nothing on the emails to indicate that you'd sent them."

"And why would I have done so? Do you really think I wanted to get caught? No one at the STN-J was to know the Factory had returned. If any of you had known, you would have surely tried to go after Robin and Amon," she hissed.

"So you are here about Robin?"

Haze ignored his question, proceeding the keyboard. With a few taps of different keys, the SOLOMON database appeared on the screen. She clicked through a multitude of folders until she finally came upon the page she had been looking for.

"You hacked into SOLOMON's file database? How?" Michael asked in shock.

"There's a lot of things you have to learn when you have a job like mine," she said with a grin. Haze looked down the page and paused at one particular section. It was archives from previous chat sessions between certain SOLOMON agents.

Friday, November 8th

D. Stretten: Have they been located yet?

S. Hiroki: The man was last spotted near a law firm in Tokyo. One of our agents claims to have seen the girl with him.

D. Stretten: When is the earliest that you can send our men in?

S. Hiroki: Sir, we can have them there by 3 a.m. or so. We need time to prepare.

D. Stretten: Have it done. Please keep me informed of the situation.

S. Hiroki: Yes sir.

Haze choked as she got to the bottom of the message. "Oh no," she breathed. 'They're planning on raiding the place this morning?' She looked down at her watch and felt her heart claw its way up into her throat. 'It's 2:30.'

She lept from her chair and headed towards the elevator, quickly pulling out her cell phone. Haze hadn't bothered to notice that the young hacker was following her. "Nagira!" Haze said in a quite panicked voice.

"What is it? Is something wrong cause you sound freaked out."

"Yes something's wrong! You have to get them out of there now!" she snapped.

"Why so quickly?"

"JUST DO IT! SOLOMON knows they're there. Get them out of there now!" she shouted into the phone.

"SOLOMON?" asked Michael.

Haze turned around and looked at Michael, her jaw dropping. 'You shouldn't have been so loud you idiot.' "Do you hear me," she breathed into the phone, staring straight at Michael.

"Yes I'll get them out now."

"Is there a back way out of your office?" she asked, still focusing on Michael's slender figure.

"There's a fire escape."

"No! I don't want you sending her down the fire escape. Just carefully lead them out the front. I'll get over there as soon as I can," she said snapping the phone shut. Haze slipped the phone back into her pocket and turned towards the elevator.

"What is going on Haze?" Michael asked in a quite irate tone.

"If I tell you, you must promise not to tell anyone else, understood?"

"Fine, just tell me what's going on."

Haze flicked the elevator button, sighing heavily. "SOLOMON is planning a raid on a law firm tonight. They're after two runaway witches. You know them both."

"I know them? You mean Amon and Robin?"

"Yes," she said sadly. "I was sure we'd have more time, but I was wrong."

"Wait, so you're saying Amon is a witch?" Michael asked stunned.

Haze slowly nodded and put a hand on Michael's shoulder. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" she asked.

The hacker agreed not to tell anyone about tonight as he walked into the elevator with Haze. He was quite stunned to hear that Amon's powers had surfaced, though he was kind of glad they did. It meant Robin didn't have to feel like an outcast around him.

Nagira's Law Firm

Robin and Amon walked a little ways down the street and turned into an alley where a black car was waiting for them. Nagira stood next to the car with Jonathan, whom both were watching Amon wearily as he approached. Nagira made Robin get into the passenger's seat and then walked over to the driver's seat. Amon hadn't quite expected what happened next. His brother quite literally _shoved _him into the driver's seat. He looked back at the man, glaring a glare that could have even sent a rottweiler, cowering in fear.

"Here's the map to the area you'll be staying at," he said handing Amon the map. "I've had it set up so that you have access to any money you may need. Now, since you're both having to live together, I also had to draw up a fake marriage license. You two can come up with the whole 'how we met' and 'what the wedding was like' story later. Under no circumstances will you come back here, understand?" he asked, glaring at Amon.

He nodded and huffed, trying to make a mental note of everything that had spilled out of his mouth. 'He tells me all this and expects me to suddenly be okay with it?' "Fine," he muttered cranking the vehicle.

"Oh and Robin, take this," Nagira said, handing Robin a cell phone. "This is for emergencies. Whenever you need to talk to me, just use that phone. Don't use the regular phone line at the house," he said with a wink.

"Thank you Nagira," smiled Robin.

Amon put the car in gear and sped off, not even bothering to say goodbye to his brother. His mind was spinning from the plethora of information that had been handed to him. All in one night, he found out he would be moving to the countryside with Robin, hiding out from not only SOLOMON, but the Factory and Jaden. He was starting to wonder who else would be after them next. __

_After them_. Sometimes Amon forgot he was now a witch. It seemed like his powers awakening should have been a big impact on him, yet they weren't. Probably because they weren't all that noticeable. In fact, they had been with him for a long time and he had neglected to notice.

A part of him hated the fact that he had powers. Yet the other felt relieved that his powers were nothing like Robin's. He had hoped his powers wouldn't be something that could become out of control. Nagira had at least made him feel as if being a witch was nothing. Amon would never forget the day in the hospital when Nagira so plainly put that his powers had shown. There was no hint of fear or disgust in his voice.

Nagira stood outside his law firm, observing the damage the SOLOMON agents had done to it. Haze stood next to him, her face emotionless. A few SOLOMON agents stood near Nagira, keeping a close eye on him.

Right after he had returned to his office, the SOLOMON agents crashed through his office windows, knocked down the door, and raided the building. They even ransacked the upstairs apartment. Everything had been ruined and Nagira felt the anger inside of him boiling. All this ransacking meant he'd have to do the repairs and replacing of damaged items. Hana would _not _be happy when she returned to work the next day.

A black car soon pulled up in front of the building, a man dressed in a grey cashmere suit stepped out. He had wild, feathery, black hair and pale white skin. His eyes were a dark grey color and nose seemed to crook out. Nagira thought he looked like a vulture.

He walked over to where Nagira stood; a most displeased look on his face. The man stopped in front of the SOLOMON agents that had been watching Nagira. All four agents straightened up and saluted the man.

"Did you find them?" said the very scratchy voice that escaped from the man's mouth.

"No sir," answered one of the agents.

"Well, where did they go!?" he asked quite irate.

"We don't know sir," answered another.

He grunted, sneering at the men for their failure in capturing the two witches. The man then turned to Nagira, whom felt his gut jerking inside. Nagira knew this guy was trouble and not just by the way he looked and talked. There was something about him that made him know this guy was bad.

The man stepped in front of him, his face drawing close to Nagira's. "Where did they go?" he asked, biting his tongue.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Why in the hell did your men storm into my office and destroy the place?," he answered in a furious tone. Nagira mentally smiled as he saw the displeasure that came to the man's face.

"Really? I was told that two very dangerous witches were spotted here, in your very firm. Was I misinformed or are you lying to me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, I'm still not following you. Can you describe them? And you still didn't answer my question!"

"You're saying no witches were here? Well, let me refresh your memory. One of them was an ex-agent of the STNJ's by the name of Amon. The other was also an ex-agent of the STNJ and SOLOMON whom went by the name Robin Sena. Does that ring a bell?" the man asked curiously.

Nagira shook his head and sighed, "Listen I'm not good with names. Could you at least describe them? Oh and WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING MY QUESTION!"

A vein in the man's temple had become quite noticeable as Nagira continued to play along. He was now grinding his teeth together and glaring at the man. "We stormed in because we thought two highly dangerous witches were in your office!" The man reached into his business jacket and pulled out a folder. He flipped it open and pulled out two pictures.

"These are the two witches," he said, showing the pictures to Nagira.

Nagira looked at them for a few moments, trying to act as though he'd never seen either one before. "Hmm. . .they look kind of familiar. You know, they may have stopped by the law firm once. Oh, I remember now. That guy Amon or whatever-his-name-is was asking about "witch protection" or something like that. I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about, so I sent him and that girl out of my office."

"Really? And what day did this occur?" he asked Nagira.

"Um, maybe last Thursday. I can't really remember. We have many clients come in and are always quite busy." He hoped that whatever day SOLOMON had found out about Robin and Amon being there was after Thursday.

"Hmm, unfortunately your story checks out," said the man quite displeased. "One of our agents had only spotted them here once. We were informed yesterday. Seems you really didn't know these two, correct?"

"Correct, oh and I remembered something. That girl said something on the way out about "America." Maybe they were running off there," Nagira added.

The man nodded and grinned. "Yes, we'd heard this before. So they really did run off to America." He turned towards Haze and grinned. "You know what to do," he said nodding to the woman.

He turned back towards Nagira, reaching into his jacket once again. This time he pulled out an off-white business card. Nagira took it from the man and looked it over. 'Stretten?' Nagira thought to himself. 'This is the guy Amon told me about. He's the new head of SOLOMON.'

"If you see either one of them again, give me a call," said Stretten, walking back towards his car. He got back in, staring intently at Nagira. "Mr. Nagira, if I find out you are lying, well. . .I'm sure you can guess what will happen. I know you've had previous dealings with witches," he said closing the door. It seemed this wouldn't be the last Nagira saw of this man. How did he know Nagira had previous dealings with other witches?

As the car drove away, Nagira looked back at his office. "Yeowch." he said with a wince. "This is going to be fun repairing. You don't suppose he'll do anything about it do you?" he asked Haze.

"Probably not. Stretten's not that type, unfortunately." She walked up closer to him and leaned towards his ear. "It's best not to talk about Robin or Amon when you go back in. Chances are they bugged the office. I know where they hid each of them, so they'll be easy to remove," she said with a wink.

Haze walked off towards the office, while Nagira continued to just stand there. He was thinking about Amon and Robin. Hopefully what he told Stretten would stick for a while, before they discovered the two had never gone to America. At least they were safe for now or so he hoped.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
That's the end of this chapter. We finally met Stretten and well. . .we haven't seen the _real _side of him. Poor Nagira. He has a lot of cleaning up to do. o.O;

Since the chapter was entirely too long, I decided to cut it into two.

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)

Preview of next chapter (and yes I know this was the same preview from the last chapter. Chapter 5 was split up into two different chapters ;):

_The truth revealed. . .awkward moments. . .all alone._


	6. Unexpected

Thanks to Crossfade's single _Cold, _I was able to finish this chapter and the next. XD Very good song BTW. Just a warning, tis another long chappie. o.O;

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Unexpected

It had taken them quite a while to find the street where their new home sat. Amon had found himself lost quite a few times and decided to enlist the help of Robin in finding the place. Unfortunately with even her help, they found themselves getting lost a few more times. Soon they found themselves at the street written on the map Nagira had given them; Robin's spirits lifting. She straightened up in her seat, peering out the window. Right behind what appeared to be an old farmhouse, was the small white house. It seemed very homey and Robin found it to be quite lovely.

Amon on the other hand, thought the house was an utter piece of crap. The siding on the house appeared to be falling off and the roof looked to be in no better shape. It was a one-story house, which appeared to also have a basement from what he could see. A small stairway led from the mailbox to the porch. To him, the only thing that remotely nice about the house, was the gate that went around the backyard. It seemed to be the _only_ thing that remained intact.

He pulled into the driveway, double-checking the address written on the map and the address that hung loosely on the house, next to the porch light. 'Why did it have to match?' he thought to himself. This wasn't exactly Amon's type of place. The house looked like it should have been condemned; well at least in his opinion.

Once Amon parked in the driveway, he stepped out of the car and proceeded to the porch. He hadn't even bothered to tell Robin to follow. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and shot out the car, trying to catch up to the man.

Robin followed Amon through the front door, almost tripping over her dress as she tried to keep up. As they both entered, the smell of damp wood and mildew filled their nostrils. Amon flicked on the light switch, not expecting to see the inside of the house as nice as it was. It was nothing like the outside. The smell of wet wood and mildew appeared to be coming from a small area at the corner of the livingroom where the ceiling was leaking.

Both ex-hunters explored the house, observing every little thing about it. It appeared to Robin that the house had once belong to an older couple whom had moved out years ago. In one of the rooms at the end of the hallway, sat an old photo album, which Robin presumed belonged to the old couple. There were little notes written within the album, some quite odd. One that Robin found most intriguing was a caption underneath a picture of a small black-haired girl that read 'Taken by the Devil.'

Amon walked into a dimly lit room, the smallest of the three in the old house. He wasn't choosey when it came to his living quarters. His only requirements was that he had a place to set up his laptop, which he did. There was an old mahogany desk sitting under the small blinded window. A small lamp sat at the right top corner of the desk, the only light that was in the room. It appeared to Amon that this bedroom once doubled for an office.

He sat down the travel bag his brother had given him for his laptop. This wasn't his usual laptop, but an older model Nagira had been able to obtain from someone. Amon didn't exactly care for an older model such as this, but it would have to do. It wasn't like he could just walk into some electronics store and purchase a new laptop. Though he was slightly tempted to send Nagira to do so.

Robin was left to pick between the two bigger rooms. She decided to go with the room next to Amon's, which was better lit. A small crystal chandelier hung over the four-poster bed. The bed coverings were crimson, the same color as the jacket Robin was wearing. There were no draperies hanging from the bed, which Robin didn't mind. If she wanted them, she'd put them up herself.

She sat down at the end of the bed and sat down the bag Nagira had given her a few days earlier. He had given Amon and herself a bag to hold their things in. Seeing as they didn't have anything else with them besides their clothes, neither didn't seem to have much use for the bags. Robin didn't really have much with her, except for a few snacks and other little items Nagira knew she'd need while there.

After sitting there a while, Robin laid back onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, inwardly smiling to herself. Bits of moonlight that escaped from the draped windows bounce around the ceiling. Never had Robin found herself becoming so interested in something so minuscule. Perhaps it was because for the first time in weeks she felt safe.

Finally she had the peace she had wanted for so long. Even in the apartment where Amon and she stayed, not once had she felt safe. This house had such a serene feel to it, as if nothing bad could ever happen here. Robin was starting to love this house, even though she had only been there for less than one hour.

The sereness seemed to seep away as Robin began to think about Amon. She still hadn't told him what he wanted to know. It seemed every time she went to tell him, something happened to keep the truth from coming out. If it wasn't for the fact that she felt so exhausted, she'd go in there and tell him now. Though she didn't really want to go in there and get yelled at, which she knew would happen'I'll tell him later. It's not like not telling him tonight will make a difference.'

Robin felt herself giving into the sleep which she had tried so hard to avoid. Before she knew it, the girl had fallen asleep. It was good for once that she was getting some sleep. Ever since their escape from the warehouse those weeks ago, Robin hadn't slept well.

Amon stepped out of his bedroom and headed towards the room that sat next to his. The door was open, which meant Robin was unpacking. He walked in, not expecting to find the girl passed out on the bed. 'Yet again I can't talk to her. Well, I guess it's good she's at least sleeping.' The man walked back towards the hallway, slowly closing the door behind him. "Tomorrow," he said under his breath. Tomorrow he'd finally get the chance to talk to her, something he'd been trying to do for the past two weeks.

The morning had seemed to slip by Robin, for she woke up to a room filled with sunlight. She had never slept so late in the day and felt a little embarrassed for doing so. Surely Amon would be angry with her for sleeping for so long. Though Amon hadn't bothered to wake her up, so perhaps he had wanted her to sleep.

Quickly she sat up in her bed, not expecting to feel the sudden wave of nausea that had come to her. 'I shouldn't have sat up so quickly,' she thought to herself. Robin assumed the feeling would pass, which it did. She stood up and walked towards the door. As she opened the door, she felt the nausea sneaking back to her.

Amon was just stepping out of his room when Robin bolted right pass him, into the bathroom. He had nearly fell back, trying to avoid running into her. She had to be seriously sick to have ran by him so quickly. "Robin," he called in a slightly concerned tone.

Robin found herself doubled over the toilet, her left hand tightly gripping the edge of the sink. She had never felt so sick before in her life. It was taking everything within her to keep from collapsing into the floor. Outside Amon was calling her and she wanted to respond to him.

"I'm fine," she managed to choke out before vomiting again.

Amon stood next to the door, listening intently to the girl. 'She doesn't sound too good. Has she caught something? Maybe that food Nagira brought back last night was bad.' He tried to the doorknob, but it was locked. "Robin, open the door."

Even if Robin wanted to, she couldn't have dragged herself over to the door. She was now sitting on her knees in the bathroom floor, hugging the toilet. 'I bet I look so odd right now,' Robin thought to herself. "I can't," she whispered.

"What do you mean you can't?" Amon asked angrily.

"I don't think I can make it back to the door," she answered.

Amon mentally kicked himself for sounding so harsh. 'Geez man she's sick. Get a hold of yourself.' He reached into his pock for his wallet and pulled it out, searching for a credit card. This was one of the first tricks he learned as a kid, eventually moving on to more intricate tools for breaking into rooms with confidential files.

As he went to slip the credit card into the side of the door, the door opened. Robin stood there, holding a washrag against her pale cheek. Amon noted how unusually pale she looked, even more so than the previous night.

"I thought you said you couldn't open the door?" he asked quite annoyed.

"I couldn't when you first asked me. It took me a moment to get myself off the floor," she said, her cheeks blushing.

"Floor? You were in the floor?" he asked, his tone slightly quavering to one of concern.

"Yes, but I'm feeling a bit better now," she said with a nod. Robin tried to slip pass him, but he grabbed her by the arm.

"Wait," he said, pulling Robin towards his room.

Robin wasn't sure why he was bringing her in there, but it must have been important. He pulled her over to his desk. On his laptop screen was a picture a file, a file Robin had seen before. This file had been shown to her previously by Haze. She bit her lower lip, knowing what Amon was fixing to ask.

"Do you recognize this file?" he asked.

She didn't want to answer him. Confirming that she had seen it meant she'd have to finally tell him the truth. Robin reminded herself that she _did _say she'd tell him soon. Though she didn't feel very well. Did she really have to tell him _now_?

"Umm. . .it looks familiar," she.

"This file was just sent to me by Haze. It looks like the file contains records from that warehouse. I was looking through the file and came upon this," said Amon, clicking on one of the icons. A folder of archived chat sessions appeared on the screen. "Haze told me that SOLOMON agents often communicate this way now, believing that this is secure. Only top SOLOMON agents have access to it. During one conversation, that Stretten mentioned something about The Factory. According to him, 'Project Démos' was not dismantled. I assume Project Démos involved us."

"Démos. . .," Robin said to herself.

"It's a term developed by SOLOMON to classify dangerous witches. Witches that were considered world threats. When Father Juliano found out the multitude that your powers could reach, he classified you as a Démos. My question is, why name this Project Démos?"

Robin had always been around the SOLOMON organization and had not once heard this term before. Nor had she ever heard of witches that were 'world threats.' Was that even possible? Was she really that powerful to be classified as a Démos?

"A Démos is someone with unbelievable powers, one that SOLOMON fears could become out of control and kill the innocent. Were they planning on boosting your powers? If that's true, how can it even be plausible? There is no way those Factory scientists could have the knowledge to increase one's powers."

"You say it isn't plausible, but I was born wasn't I?" added Robin.

Amon grunted, showing he disapproved of Robin's correcting him. He was one with too much pride to be proved wrong. "Yes, but that was by Touto."

"But some of these men know of Touto's work!"

"And how would you know that?" Amon asked, looking at Robin curiously.

"Because Haze told me." She paused, knowing Amon was fixing to grill her. He surely wanted to know what _else _Haze had told her.

"What else do you know?"

Robin stared at the computer screen, trying to divert her eyes from the pair of grey eyes that bore down on her. It was now or never. "Those men have seen Touto's work and they can indeed increase one's powers." She turned to face Amon, her heart beating against her chest. "Just not mine."

"Not yours? Then who?" It couldn't be his, what would the point of strengthening his power be? He could heal himself. Though he felt he needed to ask. What if he had some other powers he wasn't aware of? "Was it mine?"

As Robin opened her mouth to speak, the doorbell rang. Amon turned towards the bedroom entrance, contemplating whether or not he wanted to answer that. Surely Haze nor Nagira would be visiting here. That would be foolish. 'Why now?' Amon thought to himself.

Robin stood up from her seat and headed towards the entrance, only to be stopped by Amon. "No, you're not going to answer that door," he said angrily.

"Why?" Robin asked innocently.

"Because you haven't answered my question."

She looked towards the entrance and then back to Amon. Robin felt a lump begin to form in her throat. He wasn't going to like what she was going to tell him. Amon would probably be mad that she hadn't told him sooner.

The girl walked back towards Amon's desk, leaning herself against the side of the it. She looked down at the floor, not wanting to look at Amon as she told him the truth. "It was neither of ours," she said sadly.

Amon stepped towards her, his face showing the perplexity that had arisen in him. "Then who?" he asked, pausing on his last word.

Robin winced, knowing what was coming next. 'He's figured it out. Amon finally knows,' she thought to herself.

"You're not, are you?" he asked, his voice slightly shaky.

She turned towards him, tears threatening to spill from her green orbs. It was taking all the strength within her to not breakdown in front of Amon. "Yes, yes I am," she said sadly. Robin felt sick as she saw the look of horror that had come to the man's face.

"Are you sure?" he asked panicked.

"Jaden and his men told me about the experiments and ran tests to be sure. I am indeed. . .pregnant," she choked.

Amon's horrified look soon set to one of anger. "How can that be? I mean, why not. . . ." he was at a loss for words.

"The scientists from the Factory wanted the strongest Orbo ever created, so they decided the best way to get it would be to use 'The Devil's Child' and another witch. Their plans succeeded, but now that I've escaped them they're determined to get me back."

Amon didn't even have to ask who the 'other witch' was. He already knew who that was. This seemed surreal to him and he started to wonder if he wad dreaming. . .or if he had died. None of this could have possibly been happening, could it?

"Their sole purpose of creating this child was to kill it after it was born. They would keep using us until they had all they needed and then kill us both. This would all happen without SOLOMON's knowledge, but fortunately there was a leak of information to Haze."

"So this is what you've kept from me all this time? Why didn't you tell me?" he said quite angrily.

"I was scared you'd be mad."

"Of course I'm mad! You keep something like this from me for so long. What were you planning to tell me? Once the kid was on the way!?" He knew how malicious he sounded now, but he did not care. Knowing she had kept something like this from him for so long had left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Of course not. I. . ."

"And you were going to turn yourself in to SOLOMON so easily knowing you were pregnant!?"

Robin mentally kicked herself for thinking such a stupid thing. Had she really considered giving herself up with the child? She knew Amon must have thought lowly of her. The poor girl wished she had never brought up turning herself in.

"I'm sorry."

"Leave," he snapped.

"But Amon."

"Leave now. I don't want to talk any longer." Amon lowered himself into his chair, not even daring to glance at Robin. He knew if he looked back at her, he'd probably become angrier than he already was.

Robin nodded and slowly walked out of his room, closing the door behind her. The tears that had threaten to fall earlier now slipped down her cheeks. She couldn't hold them back any longer. Amon was furious with her now and she didn't blame him. Everyone told her that she couldn't tell him and then that she should. Did they realize he'd react _this _way? At least Nagira tried to help her out before.

The doorbell rang again, this time the visitor pounded their fist against the door. Robin ran over to it, hoping it was Nagira or Haze. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nagira standing outside the door through the peephole. Quickly turning each lock, Robin unlocked the door and pulled it open to allow Nagira in.

Nagira glanced around him before walking in, making sure no one was watching him. He stepped through the door, smiling as he went to greet Robin. His smile faded as he saw the streaks of tears that were slowly drying on her face. "What's up kiddo?" he asked concerned.

Robin shut the door, locking it back. She didn't want to tell him that Amon was furious at her and that's why she was upset. Who knows what Nagira would go do to Amon. "Nothing," she said, wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

He shook his head and sighed. "Robin, I know something's wrong. You've been crying."

She walked towards the kitchen, totally ignoring the man. "I think there's a teakettle in here. Would you like some tea?" she asked, pulling open one of the kitchen cabinets. An old steel teakettle sat at the top of the shelf, which Robin pulled down and went to wash.

Nagira reached over and grabbed Robin by the hand, signaling that he wanted her to stop and listen. "Robin, you are ignoring me. What is wrong? Did Amon say something to you?" he asked, his voice slightly raising as he spoke his brother's name.

"He knows."

He looked at the girl pitifully. Now he understood why she was so upset. Amon had taken it the way he'd expected. Like an idiot. "So he yelled at you?" he asked, his fists clinching.

Robin nodded and sighed. "I expected him to be mad Nagira. I mean. . .we _did _keep this from him for so long. If I were him I'd probably be angry too." She flipped on the gas stove, setting the water-filled kettle onto the burner.

"I'm going to go talk to him," he said walking off.

"I don't think you should bother him right now," Robin said softly.

Completely ignoring what Robin had just told him, Nagira stormed towards Amon's door furiously. He banged his fists against the door. Nagira felt something catch the sleeve of his jacket. It was Robin.

"Nagira, I think it's best we don't bother him right now," she said, hoping to persuade the man. Robin wanted to avoid another fight.

"He _may _be mad, but he needs to handle this like a man. That doesn't mean LOCKING HIMSELF IN HIS ROOM LIKE A TEN YEAR OLD!" Nagira yelled.

Robin had never seen Nagira like this before. Amon's behavior seemed to strike a nerve in Nagira. Even though he was taking up for her, she didn't like seeing him like this. "Please Nagira," she pleaded.

The bedroom door flew open with a furious Amon entering the doorway. Nagira and Amon stood face-to-face, both glaring at each other. Robin stepped back from them, hoping they didn't start fist fighting.

"What do you want?" Amon asked through clenched teeth.

"I want to know why you're acting like a child?" Nagira said angrily

"I am not acting like a child," the younger man snapped.

"Really? So grown mean throw a hissy and lock themselves in their bedrooms?"

"I did not throw a fit!"

"No, you acted like a _real_ man," Nagira said in a sarcastic tone. He looked back at Robin and sighed. "We need to talk Amon. No fighting, no yelling, just talking like men. Alright?"

Amon looked at Nagira suspiciously before stepping aside to let his brother in. Nagira took one last glance at Robin, giving her a quick wink. He stepped into the room, Amon closing the door behind him. Robin watched from the door, wondering what the two had just gotten themselves into.

Nagira sat down at Amon's computer whilst his brother sat at the edge of his bed. Amon looked angry, but there was something else that Nagira saw in him. He couldn't place it at first, but he finally realized what it was. _Fear._

"What is it?" Amon asked slightly impatient.

"Amon, I know you're mad at Robin about hiding this. We didn't want to tell you at first, but every time we had the chance to something would happen. Robin got scared and she knew once she told you, you'd get mad."

"Of course I'm mad Nagira! You all kept this from me!"

"And I'm sorry about that. God knows Robin is too. Listen Amon, being mad about this is futile. You have more important things to think about. Namely an unborn child being hunted and its mother. What are you going to do? Have you figured that out yet? Or have you been too busy pouting over us not telling you about the baby?"

"I have not been pouting! You want to know why I'm so mad about this? Truth be told, I trust Robin. Never in my life have I trusted someone before like I do her. Yet she lied to me."

"And you've lied to her!" Nagira barked, the vein in his timple threatening to burst.

"Since when have I lied to her?" Amon shouted back.

"When you helped her escape from SOLOMON. You were reassuring her that she could trust you and yet you hunted her anyways. Don't you think her trust in you is a bit weary?"

"But I didn't hunt her. That _must _be obvious to you."

Nagira shook his head. Amon just didn't seem to get it. "You still broke her trust once by hunting her. She probably fears you'll turn on her again. I mean, from the way you're acting now I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

Amon turned away from Nagira, trying to ignore his brother. Nagira had spoken the truth, he did break the trust between he and Robin before. Could he really do it again? In the years that he had been with SOLOMON and the STN-J, not once had Amon ever found himself having to look out for someone other than himself. Until Robin came along. She was this burden that had entered into his world and ruined his so-called 'normal' life.

"She is but a child. Robin places trust in too many," Amon said coldly.

"And you place your trust in too few. Robin is nowhere near a child, only her age makes her as one. It won't be long until she's of legal age Amon." Nagira's harsh tone had slightly faltered as the fight had died down into a normal conversation.

"I don't place trust in many for a reason. There aren't many in this world that one can trust." Amon stood up from his bed and walked towards the door. He stopped in front of it and turned towards Nagira. "And if you would like to know, my trust in you is wavering quite refutably."

Nagira watched as Amon stepped out the door, wondering where the man was heading off to. He stood up from the chair and stretched out his limbs. Robin peeped into the room, checking up on him.

"Everything okay?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, everything's peachy," Nagira said with a sigh. He walked out into the hallway to meet her. She held a cup of tea on a little porcelain saucer for him. Nagira gladly took it, thanking her for going to the trouble of making it for him.

"It wasn't any trouble. I thought I should make you something while you were here. Are you hungry? There's a few snacks in the fridge that Amon bought."

The older man shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. Heh, I'm scared that I might end up eating a snack that's _really _Amon's. Then he'd probably bite my head off," he laughed.

Robin slightly smiled, "I suppose you're right. Do you mind if we talk? There is something I wish to speak to you about," she said leading him towards the livingroom. "There's something I've been wondering about for quite some time." She sat down on the couch, waiting for Nagira to sit down next to her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well," she paused. "If I had the baby. . .and left it with Amon, do you think SOLOMON would just take me? I could always claim I lost it and Amon disappeared. It might stop the hunt against them," she said sadly.

Nagira looked at Robin in disbelief. "What are you talking about? You're kidding right? Turning yourself in would be stupid Robin!" He was beginning to think that Robin was going crazy.

"No, it would save Amon and the baby," she said firmly. "If I do that, they'll quit hunting Amon and he won't have to run anymore. It's my fault he's having to run in the first place."

"Robin," said Nagira, his voice trailing off. Even with the way Amon was acting towards her right now, she still was looking out for him. She showed more character than even he. "I understand what you're saying, but you can't go through with it. What if they take you and still hunt the both of them? SOLOMON will won't proof you know. You'll have turned yourself in for nothing!"

"I want to do this Nagira," she said, her voice cracking. "My options are either to turn just myself in or have them both die. If it wasn't for me this child wouldn't have been created, Amon wouldn't be on the run, and you wouldn't be getting yourself involved in all of this." Robin cupped her face in her hands. Tears were threatening to fall again.

"This isn't like you," Nagira breathed.

Robin slowly turned to him. "What?"

"You aren't being the Robin I met all those months ago."

She slightly grinned. "The Robin you knew all those months ago wasn't pregnant and was only running from SOLOMON," she said sadly. "It's hard to believe how much my life has changed over the last few months."

The alarm on Nagira's watch went off. He glanced down at it and winced. "Ah crap," he sighed. "I told Hana I'd be back by three and it's already three. Guess I better get going before she gives me an earful. She's already mad about the office." Nagira stood up and placed the teacup and saucer Robin had given him earlier, on the coffee table.

"What happened to the office?" she asked bewildered.

"Those SOLOMON agents destroyed the place looking for you two. I claimed you were just to strangers that stopped by my office one day and asked about 'witch protection.' Then I said you mentioned something about America and they're beginning a search there. So you guys should be safe for now," he said with a wink.

"Thank you Nagira," Robin said with a nod.

Nagira walked towards the front door and pulled it open, whilst stepping out into the smoldering heat. "I hate summer," he said to himself. Nagira turned back towards Robin and nodded. "You take care."

Hours passed before Amon returned to the house. Robin had been in the kitchen, moving things around to try and pass the time. She had been worried about Amon the entire time he had been gone. He had left no clues as to where he was going or if he would ever bother to come back. When he finally came through that front door, she felt relieved.

"Are you hungry?" she asked as he passed the kitchen. Robin stuck her head out the doorway to see where he was headed. He walked straight into his room and slammed the door shut. "Amon," she said sadly. 'He's still mad at me,' she thought to herself. She took one last glance towards his room and walked back into the kitchen to work.

The night has soon swept over the little countryside; the moonlight barely escaping pass the clouds that hovered in the sky. Amon stood at the window, peering up at the barely visible moon. On the outside he seemed calm, but inside was another story. His insides felt cold like ice. He had been thinking about Robin and the baby the entire night. Every once in a while he'd start to think about how the others had lied to him, but it seemed to not bother him as much anymore. Something else had begun to gnaw at him. _The child_.

This child Robin was carrying, would have powers unlike any ever seen in a witch. It would be more powerful than Robin and himself. That was something Amon didn't feel comfortable about. Having someone more powerful than himself being around him. What if the child's powers proved to be far _too _powerful?

Robin's Room

Robin laid in her bed, snuggled under the covers. She slept peacefully, only shifting around in her sleep every so often. The girl shifted onto her back, her face turned towards the wall. A shadow slowly stretched across the covers, blocking the little bit of moonlight that lit the room. Slowly the shadow reached to their side and pulled something out. It was a gun.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's the end of this chapter. Poor Robin. . .and maybe poor Amon. XD Don't worry, Amon won't be so reclusive in the next chapter. I know Amon and Robin seem OOC in this chapter, but that is on purpose. Under these certain circumstances, I don't think anybody could act like their usual self. o.O; Also some may think it's stupid of SOLOMON to use a chat room to discuss missions on, but this _is _a big organization with lots of security. Only skilled hackers and top SOLOMON agents could get access to the chat room. Thus why Haze has access. XD

Next chapter will be done soon. Currently working on it. It will probably be the longest chapter yet. A lot's going to be happening and we see the return of an old face. O.O

One last note. If you find that you _must _complain about my portrayal of morning sickness, don't bother. I am aware of when it usually starts, but I'm basing it off of the previous experiences of other family members. I research before I type lol.

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)

Preview of next chapter:

_A new leader . . . . . Knocking on Death's Door._ . . . . ._Betrayal. . . ._


	7. Falling Apart

Thanks to Crossfade's single _Cold, _I was able to finish this chapter. It was really inspirational for this chapter in particular. XD Very good song BTW. Just a warning, tis a _very _long chappie. o.O; The longest yet! O.O

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Falling Apart

The figure inched closer to the bed, tilting the gun towards Robin's chest. She moved around a bit in the bed, the person flinching back. Robin quickly eased back to sleep, with the dark figure making its way back to her. A bit of moonlight bounced off of their raven tresses and slid pass their face. Amon stood there, staring at Robin.

'What are you doing!?' his mind yelled. His index finger tapped trigger, threatening to pull it all the way. 'Do you realize what you're doing you idiot!' Another voice in his head kept intervening. 'That child could bring the downfall to humanity. Will you let such a thing happen?'

His head was pounding, both sides reasoning why he should and shouldn't pull the trigger. It was like his body was in limbo, none of this seemed to be happening. Was he really standing there, deciding whether to kill Robin and the child? Had he really sunk this low?

Amon released the trigger, stepping back from the bed. He felt himself slipping away; as if he was slowly turning into another person. A person that he was beginning to despise. 'You shut yourself away from her at a time she needs you the most. . .and now you want to kill her? What the hell is wrong with you?' his mind scowled.

He slipped the gun back into its holster and slowly crept out of Robin's room, cracking the door behind him. Amon found himself struggling to get back to his room in the dark. His heart was beating against his ribs; he was finding it hard to breath. Something was wrong with him, he felt it in his bones.

-Witch Sanctuary- Japan-

Around a long, black table sat all the members of Seth's armada. They were all waiting for their meeting to begin. Mariella, the witch that had taken Amon to see Robin when he first visited the mansion, was sitting next to an empty chair. She, as most of the group, looked quite distressed.

The doors to the meeting room bursted open; Jonathan walking in from the newly fallen rain. It had begun storming just as he had pulled up to the mansion, which he hadn't expected. Only a few moments earlier, the sun had been out and not a cloud was in the sky.

"Any news?" asked Naoko quite impatiently.

"No one has seen Jaden in the last two weeks. Haze checked with SOLOMON and they do not seem to have any records on his current location," he said throwing himself into the empty chair next to Mariella.

"Is he still seeking to turn in Ms. Sena?" asked one of the male witches across from Jonathan.

"As far as I know Kochiro, he's still determined to. It's not like Jaden to give up what he's looking for. I just fear what he'll do if he finds her."

"So, what are you proposing we do about this?" asked Mariella.

"We protect Ms. Sena. Seeing as my brother finds it fit to turn in his kind, we must protect her. I fear if he turns her in, he could turn in any of us."

"True," added Mariella. "But protecting her will make us direct enemies of SOLOMON. If we try to bring her back here, Jaden will find a way to turn her in. He is the heir of the witch sanctuaries. Jaden can change the rules as he pleases."

Jonathan leaned his elbows against the tables, cupping his chin in his hands. He just looked around at the group of witches. They were all staring at him, awaiting him to speak. What was he going to say to them? There was no way for Jonathan to stop his brother, he truly was the heir of the sanctuaries.

"I don't know what to do Mariella," he said sadly. "My brother had never had a mean bone in his body. . .until the day our mother and sister died. That day, he turned into a completely different person. He's been hellbent on protecting witches, whatever the cost. Something our father would have never agreed to. I bet he's rolling in his grave as we speak."

"For now we can change our allegiance to one other."

Jonathan turned towards the person whom had spoke up. The other male witch, Kochiro's twin, stood from the table. His brother stood next to him, both of them looking proudly at Jonathan.

"We will do as you order," they said in unison. Both brothers bowed their heads in respect, showing they were truly accepting Jonathan as their new leader.

"Yes," Mariella said standing from her seat. "You know as much as Jaden and you are next in line as heir."

Jonathan looked at the group in total shock. They truly wanted him to take his brother's place? Did they have that much trust in him? He stood up from his seat and bowed towards the group. "I shall not disappoint you," he said with a smile.

-Amon and Robin-

The day had been remotely peaceful and quiet for Robin, which she was beginning to dislike. For the past month, since the day that she told Amon about her pregnancy, the house had been this way. Amon would come out more during the day, but would barely talk to her. She worried that something was terribly wrong with him. Every night, she'd bring him dinner while he ceaselessly worked at the computer.

One night she managed to catch a glimpse at the computer screen as she sat Amon's tray next to his laptop. He seemed to be researching the Démos witches again. She wanted to know why he kept himself closed up, why he kept researching the Démos witches, and where had he gone that one afternoon when Nagira had stopped by. Amon was becoming more of a mystery to her each passing day.

Robin often found herself questioning why she worried so much about Amon. He didn't seem to feel the same towards her. She _was _just a burden he had to constantly drag around with him. If Robin could have changed this entire situation, she would have long ago. Amon would never get to lead a normal life again; that is to say that if he ever had one in the first place.

It had been a great task to keep herself busy during the day when Amon wasn't around. She would walk around the house, moving and fixing little things, and talking with Nagira. Robin had been quite uncomfortable calling Nagira from the house phone line, but he assured her that it was safe. Haze had told him that Stretten hadn't ordered the phone line to be tapped.

Their conversations ranged from Amon's behavior, to what sex the baby would be. Robin didn't seem too enthralled with that discussion. She was still having a hard time believing she was pregnant. Nagira seemed so enthusiastic and Robin guessed he had every right to be. After all, he was going to be an uncle. 'And I'll be a mom,' she thought to herself.

She never saw herself being a mom at such a young age. Nor did she ever see herself having children. After being hunted by SOLOMON, she never pictured herself living pass 16. How old was her mother when she had her? Robin was sure her mother had to be into her early twenties from the picture she'd seen in Touto's home. Did her mother ever feel like this? That she was just a tool?

Robin sat herself in front of Amon's door, leaning herself up against the wall. She just sat there, staring at the wooden barrier that kept her from Amon. He never knew that she sat there watching his door, hoping he'd emerge. Normally he would before Robin would awake and after she went to bed. The few times their eyes had met, Robin noted something she'd never seen before. _Fear_. Never had she seen that in Amon, someone she thought of as fearless and unbreakable.

Amon sat at the end of his bed, staring down at the wooden planks that made up the floor. His cell phone sat next to him, the screen repeatedly flashing. He turned his head, slowly glancing over at the screen. "What now?" he said to himself. With his right hand, Amon grasped the phone and flipped it on, holding it up to his ear.

"Amon, you there?" said Nagira from the other end.

"What do you want?" he asked quite putout.

"I wanna know what in the hell is up with you? You're still ignoring Robin over the baby? What in the hell is wrong with you!?"

His eyes slowly narrowed, becoming tiny slits. "No, I am not ignoring Robin," he scoffed.

"Well then what?"

"I'm. . ." Amon paused. He glanced over at his computer screen. His stomach lurched as he caught site of the file on the screen. "I need to talk to you," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Nagira asked.

"I just need to talk. I'm coming to your office," he said, clicking off the cell phone.

Robin heard the sound of Amon's feet shuffling towards the door. As she was getting up, Amon threw the door open. They met face-to-face, the first time in weeks. Amon diverted his eyes from her, making Robin feel as if she was some disgusting animal. He walked pass her, not bothering to acknowledge her presence. She went to say something to him, anything to take away the awkwardness between them, but nothing came to her.

Robin watched Amon from the window as he threw himself into the black vehicle and backed out of the driveway. He looked most unpleased and depressed. She had grown use to that look, seeing as the last few weeks had been nothing short of unpleasant. As he passed an old farmhouse, an old woman sitting on the porch waved to him. Robin could see he ignored the old woman as usual.

That old woman, Robin had grown to really like. Sometimes when she would go out to hang up the laundry, old Mrs. Hirogawa would come over to talk. Luckily for her, she had someone to talk to. Next door to them lived Mrs. Hirogawa. She lived by herself with two cats, Pero and Sama. One would most likely stereotype her as one of those cat hoarding old ladies, but she wasn't of the sort. Pero and Sama were her only pets and had been with her years before her husband Nobutori died. If it wasn't for Mrs. Hirogawa, Robin would have probably gone insane. While living at the monastery it was common for her to not speak much, but with the negativity radiating off Amon, the silence was most uncomfortable.

With Amon gone and the loneliness she was feeling, Robin planned on visiting Mrs. Hirogawa. She wanted to talk about Amon, though she didn't know how she'd do this without sounding odd. After all, she was pregnant under unusual circumstances, there was _no _love in this relationship if any, and their marriage was a fake. Robin found herself planning out every little detail about their fake life. The only problem was, she hated lying to Mrs. Hirogawa.

Amon drove down the dirt road, glancing through the rearview mirror at the old house. Every time he looked at that old house on the way to work, he felt his heart sink. Inside that house Robin sat, probably as depressed as he was. Of course he was the reason she was that way. For weeks he hadn't bothered to socialize with the poor girl. How did he expect her to feel? All this time he acted like he was mad, but in reality he was scared. His worst fear, the one thing he had never hope to happen, was slowly becoming a reality. This is why he needed to see Nagira. It wasn't just that, but he feared of what would happen to them if SOLOMON, the Factory, or Jaden found them. Not only would he and Robin be killed, but their child too.

_Their child_. It almost seemed unbelievable to say it. A child created by power hungry mongrels who wanted to rid the world of witches. It had taken him a while to accept it, the fact that he'd be a father. Nagira didn't help much, always poking fun at him every time he called to check up on them. He was starting to despise the word 'daddy.'

He continued driving down the dirt path, until he reached the end of the road, which merged into the highway. As he pulled to a stop, a black van passed by. Amon would have thought the van suspicious if it wasn't for the fact the van was marked "Daigowa Medical." Chances are that old woman next to them ordered medical supplies through them. He glanced back at the van through the rearview mirror and then sped off onto the highway.

Robin walked to the little table sitting next to the sofa. She picked up the telephone and punched in a few numbers. Though she could have just walked over to Mrs. Hirogawa's place, she preferred calling the woman and asking if she wasn't busy. It seemed more polite to do so, in Robin's opinion. She slowly pulled the receiver up to her ear, not expecting to hear what she did.

_Nothing. _The phone line was dead. "That's strange, I was sure this was working earlier." She sat the receiver back on it's cradle and went back to the window. A large black van sat in front of Mrs. Hirogawa's home, which sat right next to the phone and power lines. They appeared to be up and in working order. "This is too strange," she said to herself. Robin decided it was best to call Nagira on her emergency cell phone and inform him of the dead phone line. Someone might have cut the line. The only thing was, she couldn't remember where she put her cell phone.

The outside of Nagira's office looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Nagira had told Amon about the destruction done to the office, but he hadn't imagined this. Those SOLOMON agents had seriously destroyed the place. He wondered how much it costed his stepbrother to repair the building.

Amon walked into Nagira's office, bruting as he was greeted by his stepbrother. He wasn't pleased that Nagira had already begun picking on him again about being a 'daddy.' As hard as it was for him, Amon just ignored him. 'You can always beat the shit out of him later.' Luckily Hana had already left for the day, so he didn't have to worry about her grilling him about where he and Robin ran off to.

"So, you need to talk to me?" asked Nagira, quite pleased that his little brother had come to him for guidance. It was such a delicious thought, knowing that his brother whom declined help form anyone, needed him.

"Yes," Amon said, trying not to sound as fierce as he was mentally. Right now if Nagira could have heard Amon's thoughts, he'd have gone deaf. "It's about Robin. . ." He paused and looked up at his brother. "And the baby."

"Is something wrong?" asked Nagira, his sarcasm and child-like tone faulting.

"Yes. . .I mean no. Well, I don't know how to put it." Amon looked down at the floor once more, trying to collect himself.

"Well what is it?"

"Do you remember the day you came over to the house? Well. . .I nearly did something horrible that night." Amon closed his eyes as he thought about what he had almost done to Robin that night in her room.

"What?" Nagira asked quite curiously.

He was having a hard time of telling Nagira what had occurred. Amon felt ashamed for attempting what he did, especially when he had attempted to do this to his own child. "I tried to kill Robin and the baby."

Nagira's jaw dropped. He looked mortified and confused by what Amon had just told him. His faced hardened as it slowly sunk into his brain. _Amon tried to kill Robin and his own child_. Unfortunately Nagira wasn't sure why this happened or exactly the moment he did it, but soon Nagira's fist had found itself indented into Amon's left cheek.

Amon fell back from the force of Nagira's punch, flying over his desk. Everything on the desk including Amon, sat on the floor in one big heap. "What in the hell was that for!?" he spat angrily.

"Why would you do something so stupid!?" shouted Nagira, nearly ready to ring Amon's throat. "Why would you try to kill them?"

Amon got back to his feet, rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand. "I panicked." He felt the guilt rushing to him again, worse than before. "I thought about the child. . .and its powers. All I could think about was this child's powers growing out of control."

"So you just assumed this child would become dangerous and you felt the need to kill it?" Nagira barked. "What about Robin? Has she not proven to you that she's no danger to anyone. Wouldn't that child be the same under her care?"

"Yes. . .yes she has and I suppose the child would." Amon hung his head down in shame. How could he have thought the way he did? "I wasn't thinking clearly and I overreacted."

"You haven't done anything to either of them have you?"

"NO!" Amon said quite angrily. "I realized what I was doing was wrong. I would never hurt Robin or the baby." He looked up at his brother, not quite expecting the look he was giving him. Nagira looked quite happy.

"It's good to know that you'd want to protect them. Just don't try that again." Nagira walked over to his desk, grimacing at the emptiness. 'I punched him a little too hard, didn't I?' He sighed, rubbing the palm of his hand against hist face. "And yet you've hurt Robin so much."

"What do you mean I've hurt her? I haven't touched her!" he scoffed.

"You've hurt her emotionally Amon." Nagira reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He sat it down in front of Amon, whom picked it up and looked at it. "I've been keeping in touch with her while you've been shut up in your room all day. We've talked quite a bit and I'm not pleased by what I've heard."

"And what has she been telling you?"

"That she's alone. Robin feels badly about you being dragged into all of this. Though you kind of had no choice with the kid and all. She tells me that after the child's born, she will turn herself into SOLOMON and asked for me to watch over the both of you. This is so that SOLOMON may quit their search."

Amon was taken aback. "She said that?" he asked, almost in disbelief. "How can she think like that?"

"Because she's thinking about you and the child Amon. She thinks that by turning herself in and claiming the child died, that they'll quit their search. I have to admit she's got a good plan, but I don't want her to go through with it. Turning herself in is not an option," Nagira said defiantly.

The normally emotionless man sat down on the couch nearest his brother's desk, trying to collect everything he had just told him. 'Is Robin really willing to do this? Give up her life for me and the baby?' Then he realized that there was a question he had never bothered to ask himself. 'Would I give up my life for them?'

"Amon," Nagira said softly. "You may hound me for saying this, but I'll just have to risk it. I know you have feelings for Robin, but you've kept them concealed ever since you found out about her pregnancy. Eventually you'll have to cope with those feelings, since you'll be with her for the rest of your life."

Amon stared at his brother disgusted. 'How can he say I have feelings for Robin? I've never said such a thing!' "I don't feel that way," Amon said hotheadedly.

Nagira knew he was lying, but he played along. "Okay, whatever you say," he said with a smirk. "Just know that it's best to tell her the truth soon, especially if something happened to her. You wouldn't want her dying, thinking that she was all alone and not loved would you?"

That question seemed to have struck a nerve in Amon. "No I wouldn't." Amon then realized how he had answered that question. He had just admitted that he wouldn't want Robin to die, believing she was alone and not loved. Meaning he loved her and would want to tell her. 'Do I really feel that way?'

Nagira was ready to pick on Amon about his answer, but was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone going off. That meant Robin needed to talk to him. Usually this would be the time they'd talk, but with Amon around, he didn't feel like talking.

Robin pressed the cell phone against her ear, listening to the ringing of Nagira's line. "Please pick up," she said absentmindedly into the phone. She stood there a few moments, tapping her foot against the floor. Finally, Nagira picked up.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" he asked.

"Hi Nagira, I need to talk to you about something," she answered.

"Well listen, I have a client with me right now. Can I call you back in a few minutes?" he asked, eyeing Amon.

"Um, well I guess so. Call back on my cell, the phone line to the house is down."

Nagira mentally kicked himself for trying to hurry the girl off of the phone. What she had told him was _definitely _important. "The phone line's down? Did someone cut it?" he asked.

"Yes, I picked up the phone to call Mrs. Hirogawa our neighbor, and the phone line was dead. No dial tone or anything." She walked back into the livingroom to glance out the window once again. As she entered the room, the electricity went off. "The power just went off too."

Nagira began to panic. "The power went off? I think someone's there Robin. You need to go hide incase someone's there looking for you."

Robin went to answer the man, but paused as she noticed someone pass by the bushes in front of the window. "Someone's here," she said frightened.

Nagira yelled for her to run, but the sound of bullets overpowered his yells. He stopped to listen, hearing Robin scream in the background. Her scream faded, only to be replaced by the screams of Robin's hunters.

"ROBIN!!!!" yelled Nagira into the cell phone. His eyes widened as he listened to the fight commence. Then the phone went dead.

"What's wrong!?" Amon asked quite panicked.

"Someone's attacked the house." Nagira said rushing towards the door with his keys. "Come on, I'm driving."

-Robin and Amon's Residence-

The black van that once sat near Mrs. Hirogawa's home had long been gone. It was silent outside, almost as if nothing had ever happened. No one would have known about the attack, if it wasn't for the apparent destruction of Amon and Robin's home. Two large columns that once sat in the front of the home were now in shambles. Inside, the house was in even worse condition. As Amon walked around the livingroom, bile began to seep up his throat. 'There is no way she could have survived this.' he drearly thought to himself.

Nagira walked close behind him, having the same feelings as his brother. Seeing the damage done to the house only heightened his beliefs that Robin was dead. Not a window, nor wall was left in tact. Bullet holes ran through the ceiling and floor, which he hadn't bothered to notice until Amon's foot went through the floor. As they had entered the house, Nagira noticed the scorch marks that ran across the livingroom floor. Robin must have tried to defend herself.

Both of them looked down at the floor, gaping at the bullet holes that littered the boards. "How could she have survived this?" Amon said to himself, feeling his breath quicken. His heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. He was beginning to remember what Nagira had said to him back at the office. _You wouldn't want her dying, thinking that she was all alone and not loved would you?_ It seemed that was indeed happening.

Amon pulled his foot out of the floor, slowly pulling himself towards Robin's bedroom. It seemed to be the only room left in tact, sans the bed. The attackers must have decided to shoot at any possible hiding spot. Even the dresser had been destroyed by the gunfire. More and more, Amon began to believe that Robin couldn't have survived.

He went to walk out of Robin's room, but found his legs were immobile. Amon couldn't bring himself to taking another step out of the room. His legs gave way and he fell to his knees. Inside his chest, his heart was pumping faster and faster, his blood pressure skyrocketing. Just imagining Robin, her body riddled in bullet holes, thrashed at his soul. How would he react if he found her in that condition? Never had he been an emotional man, but knowing Robin could be laying somewhere in this house dying was becoming too much. 'What if she dies?' The thought began to plague him again.

Using both his hands, Amon pulled himself up off the floor by the doorknob. He dragged himself towards his bedroom, the fear and guilt eating away at him more fiercely than before. Amon walked into his bedroom, noticing automatically that his laptop was missing. The attackers had taken his laptop. 'Why are you suddenly worried about the laptop? Robin's still missing.' Behind his desk sat his window, shattered. Scorch marks surrounded the broken glass. Seeing that window, gave Amon hope. 'Maybe she escaped.'

He climbed through the broken window, glancing around the woods that surrounded the house. "She could be anywhere," he said to himself. Amon ran into the woods, searching every nook and cranny for Robin. There were no signs that she was out here; the wind would have easily dissipated any footprints.

After two hours of searching Amon, nor Nagira could find the young girl. They had searched everywhere, including the pond that sat behind Mrs. Hirogawa's farmhouse. Amon could only assume that she'd gone into hiding or had been taken by the attackers. He hoped she was hiding. Nagira tried to call Haze about coming over, but Amon didn't want her here. For all he knew, Haze had given away their location.

"Amon," said Nagira, nearly breathless.

"What is it now?" snapped the cold man.

"I think we need to call Haze. She needs to know what happened here."

"We don't need her help."

Nagira grabbed his stepbrother by the arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Would you quit being so hotheaded!? Robin is missing and we need help finding her! She could be somewhere out here, shot."

"FINE! Do as you please. While you're busy chatting with Haze _I'll _be searching for Robin!" he yelled storming off.

-STNJ Headquarters-

Everyone stood around the office, preparing to leave for home; with the exception of Haze and Michael. Haze was staying after to do more research and talk more with Michael. Just as everyone was about to leave, her cell phone went off. Michael knew if her cell phone went off, the call was of high importance.

"Hello," she said into the receiver.

"Haze, it's Nagira."

"Nagira," she whispered. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's definitely wrong. It's Robin."

"What's happened? Is she hurt?" she asked panicked. She looked over at Michael, whom looked as worried as she did.

"There was a raid earlier on the house and Robin's missing. Amon and I have searched the entire house and the woods. We haven't found a single sign of her."

"Do you know who raided the house?"

"No, but I assume the raid was done by SOLOMON. Though if it was them they did quite a sloppy job. I'm beginning to think it was some other group."

Haze looked over at the group of three that stood behind her chatting. "I don't know who could have done it. Michael is the only other person who knows and he surely hasn't said anything." She grinned as he nodded in agreement.

"Are you at their home?" she asked.

"Yeah, try to get here as soon as you can."

"I'm on my way," she said, clicking off her cell phone.

"Where are you headed?" Michael asked.

"Going to assist Nagira and Amon."

"So there was a raid on the house?"

"Yeah. . .and I fear whomever raided the house will be back looking for Amon. Robin's missing and I'm hoping they didn't catch her."

"Should I come along?"

"No, you stay here. Everyone will be suspicious if you tag along with me," she said with a wink. Haze slid off the desk and turned towards Michael. "See you later. . .cutie."

As she walked off, Michael found himself blushing. "She's thinks I'm cute?" He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and get back to work.

-Woods-

As the hours passed by, Amon had started to lose hope in finding Robin. Haze and Nagira were off searching on the other end of the forest while Amon searched around Mrs. Hirogawa's house. He had spoken to the old woman earlier, asking if she had seen Robin at anytime during the day. Unfortunately the woman hadn't seen her and offered to help search. Of course Amon declined the offer.

The sun started to set off in the distance as Amon began to grow weary. He was now standing in front of an old farmhouse, which none of them had bothered to check. Amon was sure Robin wasn't hiding in there. An old padlock held the farmhouse doors closed. His instincts were telling him to check that farmhouse; Robin could have found some other way in there.

He raised his foot up into the air, repeatedly kicking the padlock until it snapped off the door. The door handles went down with it. Amon glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. Next to the old woman's house sat that same black van that had passed his car earlier that day. They had returned.

Amon rushed into the farmhouse, quickly shutting the doors behind him. He now wished there had been another way into the farmhouse. Surely those men would notice the busted lock if they came searching here.

The old barn smelled of decay and mildew. Thick coats of dust covered the windows. Amon could plainly see this barn hadn't been used in years and it seemed no one had been in it in years either. Everything seemed untouched. If Robin had come into the barn, she hadn't left any tracks.

He walked over to a pile of hay, which sat at an old stall near the end of the barn. As Amon walked towards the hay, the ground began to creak. Amon backed away, staring down at the wooden door that was hidden by the dirt. A small metal handle was hidden under the straw.

As he leaned down to pull the handle, he heard someone wrestling the barn door. He glanced back, fearing that it was the attackers. Amon turned back towards the door and with one big pull he threw the door open. Just as the men were opening the door, Amon climbed through the door and quietly closed it.

He stood there for a while, listening to the pounding of footsteps above him. There was chattering, lots of it. The men seemed to be confused. One of them yelled at the others, but Amon could only make out part of what he said. _Find her now_. Did that mean they hadn't found Robin?

Amon felt his way down the tunnel, tripping here and there as he traveled through the darkness. There wasn't a drop of light in the tunnel. He could see far off in the distance, a red light. It grew bigger as he approached it. The light, which Amon could see as he got closer, belonged to a pile of flames that sat against the side of the tunnel wall. Robin sat to the side of them. _She was safe._

"Robin. . .," he breathed in disbelief.

She turned towards him; a smile coming to her soft face. Amon noted the small cut that ran across her cheek. From what he could see, Robin was alright. Most of all, she was alive. Amon felt the corners of his mouth rise a little.

"Amon," she chirped jumping to her feet.

They both stood there, staring at each other. It felt quite awkward to be standing there, acting as if the odd weeks before them had never occurred. The silence between them was becoming quite unbearable, but neither dared speak. What could they possibly say to each other?

Robin decided that she would break the silence. "I'm glad to see you are alright," she said with a smile.

Amon looked at her surprised. "You are?" he asked.

She nodded, gently lowering her head until her focus was on the ground below her. "I was worried that those men were going to come after you too." Robin rose her head back up until their eyes met. She gasped and ran over to a little pile sitting on the ground. From under her crimson jacket, Robin pulled out a large laptop; Amon's laptop.

"When they first entered the house, I ran towards your room. I knew how much this laptop mattered to you," she said, handing it over to him. As she handed it over, she kept a slight smile on her face.

Amon felt horrible, knowing that Robin had risked her life just to save his laptop. Did she really think the laptop meant more to him than her own life? Well, he had acted as if that were true. He nodded, taking it from out of Robin's arms. "You didn't have to you know," he said, his voice slightly shaky.

"Well, I knew you'd be mad if it had been stolen."

"I would have been mad if you had been stolen!"

Robin's eyes widened in shock. She was slightly confused by his sudden outburst. Did he really mean that? "You would have?" she asked dumbfounded.

He nodded and sighed heavily. "Yes, I would have." Amon leaned himself against the wall of the tunnel, alongside the fire. The light bounced across his face, revealing the stress lines that had developed during the course of the day.

"I'm sorry," Robin said, sitting down alongside him. "I thought you would have wanted me to save the laptop."

"You only thought that because I made it seem that way," he said disgusted.

"Amon," Robin said softly.

"What?" He slowly turned his head towards her, not expecting to see tears spilling down the girl's cheeks. "Robin. . .?"

"I'm sorry. . .I'm sorry for all of this," she choked.

Above them the sound of feet beating against the hardwood floors boomed through the tunnel. Amon grabbed Robin by the arm and pulled her up to her feet. He looked around, wondering where they could possibly run. Along the left side of the tunnel sat what appeared to be a hidden doorway. It was obvious to Amon, seeing as the section of the wall was ajar.

Amon dragged Robin behind him, up to the wall. Robin quickly dispersed of the little fire that would have been quite noticeable by the attackers. With one great shove, Amon slid the hidden door open, signaling for Robin to run inside. She wanted to protest, worrying if he would bother to go in too. To her relief, Amon stepped inside behind her, quickly sliding the door back into place. Hopefully their attackers wouldn't snoop around this area.

As they stood there, waiting, listening for the approaching group, Amon felt Robin's warm breath against his neck. She was breathing quickly, but silently. Her warm breath was starting to drive him mad. They were both pinned up inside a small little storage closet, or at least Amon assumed it was a storage closet. There wasn't much room to move around. Amon felt his legs begin to shake as he tried to keep himself still in the small room. It was starting to become impossible.

A few times Robin had managed bump into Amon, which had sent the man's cheeks turning into a bright hue of crimson. If Amon could have seen through the pitch blackness, he would have seen that Robin's cheeks had become the same hue. They both felt like kids. Neither had ever been so close to the other before. It was slightly embarrassing for the both of them. Amon would have had an easier time standing, if hadn't been holding his ten pound laptop.

"Amon?" Robin whispered.

"What?"

"Why would there be a hidden storage closet here?"

"How should I know!?"

Robin sighed and leaned herself as close to the back wall as possible. She was feeling faint, probably because she hadn't eaten nor drank a single thing since early that morning, which hadn't been much of a meal. With her morning sickness, she hadn't managed to keep much down. The weariness she had tried so hard to ignore was finally setting in.

"Amon?" she asked, her voice slightly shaky. Her legs were beginning to tremble.

"What?"

Before she could answer him, Robin fainted, sliding down into the floor. Amon felt her legs brush up against his feet. The man tried to turn himself around the best he could in the dark. He tried hard not to step on the poor girl. After a few attempts, he was able to pull Robin up to her feet. Seeing as she was too weak to stand on her own, Amon let Robin lean against him. Normally he would never allow someone to even touch him, but at the moment he had no choice. Either she leaned against him or ended up in the floor again.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"You shouldn't be. You've done nothing wrong," he said, his voice slightly kinder than before.

"No, I'm sorry about not telling you sooner. I was just scared," she said sadly.

Amon nodded, realizing then what Robin's apology earlier had meant. "I understand why you were scared to tell me, Robin. You knew how I'd react and I did." He cleared his throat, pausing before he said the one thing to her that he rarely said to anyone. "I'm sorry."

Robin smiled and nodded. "It's alright." She shifted her head which was laying against Amon's shoulder. Her eyes were settled upon Amon's collarbone, which she could not see. For all Robin knew, she could have been staring at the wall.

Amon felt her warm breath against his neck again, presumably his collarbone. It was driving him mad once again. Her leaning on him wasn't much help either. He was starting to worry if he'd eventually give into temptation as he stood there. The man had begun to think about Robin, in the not-so-usual way one would think of their colleague. Nagira had told him before of Robin's usual sleep attire, which he had begun to think about as he stood there.

'What is wrong with you? She's 15 for god's sake," Amon thought to himself. He mentally beat himself for thinking that way. So did he really want to see her naked now? What in the hell was wrong with him? They were stuck in a cramped room in an underground tunnel. No time for perverted thoughts. Amon suddenly had an image in his mind of Nagira, beating him on the nose with a newspaper. _No, no! Bad boy! Get those dirty thoughts out of your perverted little mind_.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of Robin's sweet voice. "Where did you go that day? The day I told you about the baby?" she asked, her breath beating against him.

He found himself having to calm himself down before answering. "I. . .I went to the lake," he choked. Amon felt her breath against him again. "Oh dear god man, she's just breathing on your neck!'

"Why did you keep yourself locked in your room for so long?"

Truthfully Amon didn't want to answer her. Nor did he ever want to. Telling her meant he'd have to tell her about the night with the gun. He still felt guilty for that night and wished the thoughts that had risen within his mind had never occurred.

"I needed to think," he answered, hoping that answer was enough to satisfy her.

"I see." Robin knew he wasn't going to tell her anymore than that. It seemed he still didn't trust her enough to tell her the whole truth. 'He's doing his usual game of telling me what he wants me to know. . .which is pretty much nothing,' she thought to herself.

"How do you feel about the baby?" Robin hoped his answer wouldn't be negative, but knowing Amon it probably would be. After all, he hadn't shown much enthusiasm towards becoming a father.

"I don't know," he answered.

"I know it's all a shock to you. It was for me when I first found out, but I've grown to accept it. Continuing to question it's creation is a waste of time. There are more important things to worry about. Like hoping it will be born healthy and that the evils of this world shall never harm it."

Never had he heard Robin speak so motherly before. It was as if the person in front of him wasn't the 15 year old he had known for the last few months. She was proving to him that she wasn't the little kid he believed her to be.

Everything Amon had been feeling, the anger and depression from the last few weeks, seeped away as he stood there. He was taking Robin's words to heart. She was right, they had more important things to worry about. Their child, which Amon had for so long neglected to accept, had to be their top priority.

"Yes," he said absentmindedly. Amon leaned his head against Robin, staring out into the blackness in front of him. The scent of vanilla emitted from Robin's chestnut locks. He found himself drowning in her presence.

Nagira stood in the woods, peering out at the black van that sat parked in front of the old woman's house. Men dressed in black fatigues and helmets with face coverings, piled inside the van. Haze stood next to him, watching as the last man bolted inside. One of the men slid the door shut as the van took off. Both stood there a few moments, waiting for the van to disappear in the distance.

"Do you think they found Amon?" asked Nagira.

"No, I highly doubt it. We would have seen them bring Amon out. He must be hidden," she said, walking out from behind an old oak tree. She pulled out a pistol, just incase someone had been left behind to search.

They both walked towards the old farmhouse, where the soldiers had just emerged. Haze had been the first to notice the old door in the floor, leading to the tunnel. She lifted the door up by the handle, signaling for Nagira to step in. "After you," she said with a wink.

He nodded, wearily jumping through the floor. Nagira landed on the hard stone ground, nearly losing his balance. The jump had been farther than he had expected. Haze landed behind him, slamming the door behind her. She squeaked as the door boomed, echoing through the tunnel.

"Could you _be _any louder?" Nagira hissed.

"Sorry," she said apologetically.

Amon and Robin jumped as they heard a loud boom radiate through the walls. The walls trembled from the force of what Amon assumed was the door in the farmhouse. He pulled himself away from Robin, turning his back towards her so that she could still lean against him.

"Do you think they're back?" she asked.

"I dunno," he answered, feeling his heart beat against his chest.

"Did you hear voices?" asked Haze, tripping over what she assumed was a rat. She heard a slight squeak as she landed on her feet.

"Yeah, do you think Amon's down here?" Nagira whispered.

"Maybe. Wait. . .why are we in the dark?" huffed Haze, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a silver-plated lighter, which she rarely used.

Haze flicked it on, holding it out in front of her. There was no sign that Amon had been down there. She ran the lighter down the left wall of the tunnel, inspecting it. She had once heard that old tunnels like these held secret entrances. The tunnel, which was quite uncommon to find in Japan, was connected to the old woman's farm house and the old house Amon and Robin had been living in. Though most would have found the tunnel a complete waste, it had shown its worthiness during WWII. This tunnel had in fact, been a way for the two families that had been residing there at the time, to come together during the war. It was preferred over dodging enemy fire outside. Within the tunnel were hidden entrances to other rooms.

"I think I heard Haze," whispered Robin.

Amon nodded turning his ear back towards the door. "Yeah, I think it's her and Nagira." The two individuals had been quite loud. He only knew of two big mouths that couldn't keep quiet when they should be.

He leaned up against the door and with one great shove, he slid the door open. There he stood facing Nagira, whom was grinning at him mischievously. Nagira had noticed how Robin was leaning against Amon.

"I'm glad to see you two are alright. . .and playful," he said with a grin.

Amon glared at his older stepbrother and shook his head. "Could you quit being a smart ass and help," he spat, pointing down at his laptop.

As Nagira reached down to pickup Amon's laptop, Amon turned back around towards Robin. He swept her off her feet, carrying her in his arms bridal style. Robin was taken quite aback by this sudden gesture. "Amon, what are you doing?" she asked thunderstruck.

"You're too weak to make it out of here. I'll carry you," he answered.

She nodded, smiling as she lay her head against him. He did not protest, but merely nodded as she leaned against him. Nagira had been eyeing them as they entered the entrance to their house. 'They seem to be doing alright,' he thought to himself.

Haze and Nagira climbed out of the tunnel, followed by Robin, and then Amon. All four stood in Amon's bedroom, in front of the closet where the tunnel entrance lay. Amon looked down at the door, puzzled as to why he'd never noticed the entrance before. It should have been fairly obvious, considering its location.

"So what do we do now?" asked Robin.

"First, we get you checked up," said Haze, helping Robin to Amon's bed.

"I'm fine," she protested.

"We need to make sure," said Amon, sitting beside her.

"Then what?" asked Nagira.

Haze looked at Robin and Amon, not sure of what to say to them. She didn't really have any plans as of yet. After all, she hadn't been planning for the house to be raided. How was she to know they were to be discovered so soon? "I don't know," she said sadly.

She looked down at her watch and smiled. "Well, the STN-J office is closed for the night. Michael told me the security cameras have been acting wonky all week. You two could camp out there until tomorrow morning. I'm sure Michael wouldn't mind us intruding. After all, he misses you two very much and I'm sure he'd be glad to see you both," she said with a smile.

Amon looked over at Robin and nodded. "I guess that will be fine. We can also do a little more research while there. There are a few things I need to sort out." He hoped there would be no problems. Michael was trustworthy, but he still had some doubts about Haze. Something just didn't seem right about her.

The three of them, sans Nagira, filed into Haze's car. Nagira drove his own car, heading out first onto the open road. There didn't appear to be any other cars out on the road that night. They had a peaceful drive down the countryside, heading towards the city. It was peaceful, until Amon noticed a black vehicle trailing off in the distance. He turned back, hoping to get a clearer view of the vehicle. Unfortunately it was too far back to determine whether it belonged to their attackers or some innocent bystander.

They drove a little farther, both Amon and Robin viewing behind them. The vehicle had started to get closer and now they could easily tell whom it belonged to. Across the side of the vehicle, in white letters it read "Daigowa Medical." Their attackers had returned.

"It's them," Robin gasped.

Haze glanced into her rearview mirror and glared. "Shit," she said through gritted teeth. She blinked her headlights, signaling to Nagira. "You two better buckle up. I foresee a car chase in the next few minutes." As soon as Nagira's car shot off, Haze slammed her foot against the accelerator. The car jolted back, throwing Robin and Amon against the seat.

"Shit," spat Nagira, watching the pair of headlights from his rearview mirror flash off and on. He had hoped they were in the clear. Now they were about to enter a car chase. How were they going to get out of this without being caught or killed?

The car sped up closer to Haze's vehicle, Nagira felt his heart beating against his ribs. He watched the car inch closer and closer, until it rammed into the back of the car. Haze's car swayed, but she managed to keep it on the road. Nagira pulled himself into the right lane, trying to allow Haze to pass him. Seeing as those guys in the black van weren't going to play nice, he wouldn't either.

"What is he doing?" asked Robin, whom had just managed to pull herself from the protective grasp of Amon. The man had thrown himself over her as the black van rammed into the back of their car. She was now watching Nagira, whom had switched into the right lane. 'He might get hit by an oncoming car!' she thought worriedly.

"He's trying to get you to pass," Amon yelled, turning back towards the back window.

"Alright." Haze slammed her foot against the accelerator, quickly passing Nagira's car. She watched as the black van began to speed up, trying to catch up to her vehicle. "What are these crazy bastards doing!?" she yelled angrily. Just as she glanced back in front of her, she noticed a car coming down the right lane. "Oh no," she gasped in horror.

Nagira had been glancing into his rearview, neglecting to see the oncoming car in front of him. He had just caught sight of it, when it was merely feet away from him. With one great jolt, Nagira slid his car back into the left lane, the passing car's horns blazing. Wincing, Nagira did an apologetic wave. "Sorry," he breathed.

The black van, which had only been a few inches from Nagira's bumper, swung into the right lane. Nagira wasn't going to let them get pass him. He glanced at the car in front of him and the black van, quickly gaining momentum beside him. 'You have to do this,' he thought to himself. With one last glance at Haze's vehicle, at the two pale faces staring back at him from the back window, Nagira did the only thing he though he could do.

"What is he doing!?" Robin said worriedly.

"He's not, is he?" yelled Haze, looking back into the rearview mirror.

Amon watched Nagira's car slide dangerously closer to the black van. He knew what his brother was doing and he hated him for it. 'Do you even realize what you're doing!? You're going to get yourself killed you idiot!' his mind yelled.

The three watched in horror as Nagira's car slammed into the black van, both flying off of the road into the grassy fields. Robin bolted up in her seat, her face riddled with shock and sadness. Amon had the same look of shock in his face, buy any signs of sadness were invisible to Haze. She herself was trying to keep back a few tears.

"Nagira!" Robin said in shock. Her hands began to shake as the grasped onto the backseat. She kept mumbling his name, until she felt the tears stinging at her eyes. "Nagira!" she yelled, her face crumbling. The tears had escaped down her face, coming down more severe as her mind began to sort out the scene. Robin leaned her forehead against the seat, letting the tears fall down as she folded her hands together.

Amon looked over at the girl, the pain inside of him growing more sever as he saw her saddened face. He saw her hands folded together, her lips moving as she quietly gave a prayer for Nagira. No, for Nagira and the men in that van. Though those men had been after them both, Robin still cared enough to pray for them, which Amon didn't understand but accepted.

Haze slowed down until her car came to a stop. She put the car in park, unbuckled her seatbelt, and turned to face the two. Amon had one hand against Robin's shoulders, whom was shaking as she cried. "Robin," she said sadly.

"We have to go back," choked Robin. She straightened up and turned towards Haze. "We have to go back to him," she said with a sniffle.

"No, we can't go back Robin," said Amon.

"He's right. For all we know, those men have backup."

"So you're going to just going to leave him there!?" Robin asked mortified.

Haze nodded, lowering her head down in shame. "I'm sorry Robin. We have no choice." Truthfully she did have a choice. She could easily turn around and go back to the wreck, but doing so endangered them all. After all those men could have backup or may be waiting for them to return, guns loaded for their arrival. There was no way Haze was going to risk it.Robin's bottom lip trembled as she glanced at her old friend. 'If you won't go back, I will,' her brain spat angrily. She lunged for the doorhandle, throwing the car door open as she pulled. A strong hand grasped her wrist, but Robin pulled away, running as fast as she could from the car. It wasn't just that she wanted to go back to Nagira, but she wanted to run. Run as far as she could, not caring where her feet took her.

"ROBIN!!" yelled Amon angrily, jumping out of the car and chasing after her. He knew how she felt at that very moment. For all he knew, his older stepbrother was dead. If he wasn't, than those attackers would take him into custody or kill him themselves. Either way, his brother's fate was sealed. Amon wasn't an emotional man, nor did he ever claim to be one. At that moment, he was having to fight the feelings inside of him, fight back the tears that were threatening to expose themselves.

The young witch kept running, ignoring the sharp pains that had developed in her legs. She ignored the weariness, the voice of reason that was Amon, calling her to come back. There was nothing that could have stopped her, except for her own legs. Her feet slipped from under her; Robin falling forward onto the pavement.

Amon gasped as he saw the young girl fall to the gritty pavement. He slipped down next to her, checking to see if she was alright. She had passed out. The man lifted the girl up into his arms, worried about Robin's current condition. As he turned around to carry her back to the car, Haze came running up.

"She passed out?" asked the woman, worried as she looked at her friend.

"I'm not surprised after all she's been through today." He walked pass Haze, heading back towards the open car door. Carefully he slipped Robin into the backseat, climbing in right after her. The nerve-shot man slammed the door shut, soon turning towards the unconscious girl beside him.

"We need to get her to a doctor. She needs to be checked out," said Amon, worry wreathing his voice.

"I know someone whom can meet as at the STN-J headquarters." Haze turned the car back on, the engine roaring to life. "She only treats witches. You've met her before."

"I have? Who?" he asked curiously.

"Maya Hirogawa."

-Hospital-

Lying in a hospital bed, inside a small room sat Zaizen, staring at the ceiling. He was wrapped in bandages, none of his body exposed to the air. His gaze was blank, as if there was nothing happening on the inside. It appeared that way to the doctors, each time they checked on him. Never did he move, nor speak to them. The man just lie there, staring at the tiles that ran across the ceiling.

A short, chubby, blonde-haired woman stepped into the room, pulling a cart behind her. She smiled as she approached Zaizen, reaching into the cart to pull out two small vases, holding white flowers. "Good evening Mr. Zaizen. An older woman left these for you at the nurse's station. We tried to see if she wanted to come visit you, but she declined. I'll sit them over there for you," said the woman, walking over towards the window. The two vases were placed upon a shelf, that ran along the side of the window.

As the woman started back to her cart, she heard the man mumble something. "I'm sorry?" she asked curiously. She walked over to the side of his bed, leaning her ear towards his face. "Can you speak up sir?"

"M. . .Ma. . .Maya."

Well, that's the end of chapter 7. Rather long, isn't it? The chapters will be getting longer as the story progresses. ;

Poor Nagira! cries My brother read over this fic and swore to kill me for making Nagira kick the proverbial bucket. XD

The next chapter won't be as busy as the past few. They will finally have a moment of peace! O.O What about Zaizen? How does he know Mrs. Hirogawa?

I'd like to thank those that have commented on this fic. Your comments have really meant a lot to me. o Thank you for baring with my slow chapter posting too lol. Lately I've received nothing but bad news and have been in a _very _depressed mood. And I've had quite a lot of good cries No worries, I've been working on chapter 8. .

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)

Preview of next chapter:

_Lies Lead to Heartache. . . . . Resurrection of a Devil._ . . . . ._Family Secrets. . . ._


	8. Resurrection of a Devil

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Resurrection of a Devil

It had been two hours since the three had arrived at the STN-J headquarters. They were greeted by Michael, whom looked worried about Robin's current condition. During the remainder of the ride, she had not once stirred. Amon chalked it up to the pure exhaustion the girl was experiencing. She had been running from some unknown group of armed men, hid in an underground tunnel for god knows how many hours, the car chase, and now Nagira.

Amon had thought about his brother off and on. He hoped Nagira wasn't dead, but the chances of him surviving that wreck were slim to none. One of the local tv stations had aired information about a recent wreck. Supposedly bodies were found, but Amon suspected that there were no bodies. It was SOLOMON, trying to cover up what happened. Chances are his brother was in a hospital or in SOLOMON custody. There was still the chance he was dead, but Amon wouldn't accept that.

He kept asking himself the same question over and over. _Did SOLOMON cause all of this? _It wasn't like SOLOMON to do such a messy job. The question of _how _they found both of them was still at hand. Who could have possibly given away their position? Did Jonathan, whom Amon still hadn't grown to trust, betray them?Or was Haze playing them both? Could Father Juliano have been setting them up? There were just far too many possibilities.

The ex-hunter shook his head, clearing his mind of all the mind numbing questions that had been plaguing him. He turned his attention towards Haze and Michael, whom were both staring at him. Neither said a word, but Amon could tell they wanted to say something. They were looking at him as if he'd drop dead any second.

"What!?" he barked angrily.

Michael jumped, not expecting the man's sudden outburst. He was glad to see Amon alive, but he surely wasn't glad to see his old rancorous attitude. The boy could have lived without it. "Nothing. . .nothing. Um. . .we're just wondering how you're doing. You've been fairly quiet since you got here," said Michael with a worried laugh.

Amon just eyed both of them and grunted. "I'm fine." He watched as the two nodded and walked off, leaving him standing at the entrance to the medical room. They had to know he was lying, just by the way he answered them, but he wasn't going to admit how he felt to either of them. He was worried about Robin, the baby, and of course Nagira. The entire world seemed to be going after everyone he knew and cared about. Maya Hirogawa, the old lady that both he and Robin had lived next to for the past month, was in the medical room tending to Robin. Neither Nagira nor Haze ever informed him that Mrs. Hirogawa was a witch healer. Not in the sense that she had healing powers like himself.

He at first didn't know whether to trust the woman or not, but he soon found out that she was an old friend of Father Juliano. Still he wearily put his trust in the woman, but seeing as Robin needed to be looked at, he'd just let it slide for now. Amon began to wonder why he distrusted the woman in the first place. She had done nothing to prove her distrustfulness. Perhaps it was just his usual untrusting self that was causing him to be so cautious.

After standing at the door for nearly thirty minutes, Amon decided to make himself comfortable on the sofa. He leaned back onto the cushions, laying horizontally across the sofa. It didn't seem like _anything _could send him to sleep at that moment. There were far too many things on his mind. Amon found his eyes slowly drooping down as he lay there. 'No! You're not tired. Stay awake you idiot,' his mind yelled ferociously.

Amon couldn't fight off the weariness any longer. He gave in, his head lolling to the side, his chest slowly rising up and down as his breath slowed. Haze and Michael stood watching him, a relieved smile on their faces. Both had hoped Amon would rest after the day they had experienced. Thankfully he did.

"You should get some rest too," said Michael, turning towards Haze.

"Nah, I've got far too many things to do right now.I need to go talk with someone. Could you call me if anything comes up?" asked Haze with a sweet smile.

Michael felt his cheeks turn crimson as the girl smiled at him. He'd never had a girl look at him that way before. "Sure," he choked, his voice slightly high pitched. 'What in the hell just happened to my voice?' he thought to himself.

"Thanks Michael." Haze smiled once more and walked off, leaving the young ex-hacker by himself. He watched as she boarded the elevator and disappeared from sight. Michael sighed as he realized she was gone from him again. Truth be told, Michael had taken a liking to HazeNever had he found himself fumbling words when a woman smiled at him. Normally he'd just smile back, but Haze's smiles were mind numbing. Her smiles were like a tranquilizer, leaving him immobile and woozy.

-Witch Sanctuary-

News of the raid and Nagira's supposed death had reached the witch sanctuary by way of Haze. She had come to visit him, hoping he could provide assistance with Robin and Amon's current predicament. Unfortunately with Jaden still at large, he couldn't harbor both witches. Instead, he could provide assistance in way of being bodyguards. He and the others had already been planning this, which worried Haze.

"You knew the raid was going to happen?" asked Haze suspiciously.

"Well, I suppose you could say that. It was bound to happen eventually. Someone would slip up or someone would have spotted them," he said, throwing a cinder block into the fireplace. He smiled as he watched the flames engulf the wood.

"Do you know who those men were that attacked?"

Jonathan smiled and glanced over at the girl. "Have you not figured it out yet? You should know who those men were." Telling by the look on her face, Haze did not very well know. He sighed and threw another cinder block into the fire. "You know Jaden wants Robin at all costs. . .and you know that when he wants something, he'll do the most absolutely stupid things," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, like turning in Robin. So if Jaden's the one that initiated the raid, who were those men? Colleagues of yours?" she asked curiously. She grinned as she saw the insulted look that had come to the man's face.

"Oh please, you know I don't associate myself with such ruffians," he smiled. "My brother on the other hand, loved being around those sorts. Disappointing to say the least. To think we're actually twins and we have nothing in common, except for our devilishly good looks," he laughed. He noticed the way Haze was looking at him. "Hey, I was only kidding."

"_Right_," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, Michael and I were trying to figure out how to keep the others from coming to work tomorrow. I don't know where to send them,"she sighed, pooching her bottom lip out.

"Well, you told me that one girl hates work. There's one person down," he said with a smile.

"Yeah well, she's easy to get rid of. Can you think of _anything _that would work?"

Jonathan grinned a devilish grin, one that Haze had never seen on him before. "Just call them and ask them to meet you. Michael can give you some crazy case to go work on. All you gotta do is make sure it lasts all day."

She looked at him as if he were the world's biggest idiot. "You know, that sounded incredibly idiotic Jonathan. How would a case last the _entire _day? Hmm? Have you ever heard of a case lasting _that _long?"

"You can get it to work. Get Michael to search for a tough case. Anything to keep them out of the office."

"What about Chief Kosaka and Hattori? Plus the security guy that I can never remember the name of" she said, scratching the top of her head.

"Umm. . .wait, scratch the case. Tell them Michael is working on the security system and he needs the building cleared out. It wouldn't be a lie of course. He does have to work on the security system and I guess tomorrow would be a good time to do so."

"Well, I'm sure it still won't work, but it is worth a try. I'll talk to Michael about it when I get back to the office. So, I suppose I'll need to stay out of the office too? Too make this lie seem authentic?" she asked drearily.

The man nodded and smiled. "It's not _that _hard to do. I'm sure you all will find something to do with your time. Isn't there anything you do for fun in your spare time? Anything you've wanted to do for so long, but haven't?"

Haze grinned and shook her head. "Nope, unfortunately I don't live a _fun _life. I never have free time. There's always my work waiting for me. When you live a life such as mine, you don't have time for fun and games. It's surprising that someone such as yourself isn't the same. Doesn't work prioritize amusement?"

"Sometimes, but I take out the time to have fun. You should try it sometime," he said with a wink. Jonathan glanced up at the Victorian-style clock that hung above the fireplace. "Looks like your time's up here. You best be getting back to the office."

The woman looked over at the clock and sighed. "Well I best be getting off. Have a pleasant night Jonathan," she said, leaving out the bedroom door.

Jonathan watched as the door slowly closed behind the raven-haired hunter, waiting for the door to completely close. He closed his eyes, his back facing the balcony. His lips sneering, his right temple shaking, Jonathan balled his hands into fists as he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. "What do you want?" he said ominously.

"You know what I want," said a voice.

He turned around to face the balcony, his fingernails digging into the bare skin of his palms. "Was it you!?" he growled angrily.

A figure emerged from behind the long white curtains, that swung as the night air blew into the room. "What do you think? Am I capable of doing such a thing?" said the figure, sarcastically.

His teeth ground together, Jonathan spun on his feet, turning towards the intruder. "You bastard! I know it was you that sent out the raid. How could you do such a thing? Do you realize that you could have killed the three of them!?" he hissed.

"Those men were not going to kill them you idiot! Do you think I'm _that _stupid?"

"Yes I do."

"Very harsh Jonathan, very harsh. Sadly you've overseen my true intentions. I don't care for the girl. It's that bruting companion of hers that I'm interested in."

Jonathan looked at the person dumbfounded. "Amon? Why him?" he asked inquisitively.

"You don't know? Well, isn't that rather surprising. Besides being the loathsome bastard I've learned him to be, he's a Démos and a top level Démos at that. Seems he's now in the same category as the abomination growing inside the girl."

"An abomination? How can you say that?"

"Because anything that has been created by that monster is an abomination."

"What do you have against the man?" Jonathan asked irately.

"You'll should know dear brother. He's hurt us both before." Jaden stepped away from Jonathan, heading back towards the balcony. "Oh and Jonathan," he said, reaching into his coat pocket. "Let's not divulge this little meeting to anyone. Understood?"

"Yes, now get the hell out."

-STN-J Headquarters-

The night had been fairly quiet and still. Everyone within the office had fallen asleep, including Michael. Mrs. Hirogawa had long left, telling Michael to call her if they needed her again. Everything seemed fine and for the first time in a long time, everyone was having a good night's sleep.

Robin, whom had been asleep longer than Michael and Amon, stirred in her bed as the moonlight slipped through the curtained window. She slowly opened one eye, glancing over at the window. 'Where am I?' she thought to herself. It was quiet, still, which Robin wasn't use to. The last few months had been hectic and not once had she had a moment's peace. Now, it just seemed awkward lying in that bed, having nothing but the sound of the outside world emitting through the room.

The usual queasiness she experienced each morning had set in, but it wasn't as severe as usual. She sat herself in the bed, glancing around the room as she propped herself up against the headboard. Robin had been in this room once before, but she remembered Amon saying this room was rarely used. It was old and didn't have the proper equipment needed to meet today's standards. They had long dismissed the medics that had worked in this office, once The Factory was developed. Now it was just a room, sitting there without a purpose, until now.

It had taken Robin only a moment to remember the events of the previous day. Her friend, the one person that had helped her through the bad, the one whom sheltered her from SOLOMON, was now gone. She wanted to believe he was alive, but Robin felt deep in her heart, that it wasn't at all possible. Nagira was gone and there was no bringing him back.

The only reason he was killed was because of her. All of this, was because of her. She couldn't help but blame herself for all of this. First it was Amon and now she had caused the death of his only stepbrother. Robin wondered how Amon was feeling about this. Did he feel guilty or sad for what happened? Was there any feelings of resentment towards her? Had Amon started to feel the same as she was? That she was the only reason his brother was dead?

She pulled the covers back, exposing her bare legs to the night air. It hadn't occurred until she had pulled the sheets back, that Robin was completely nude. If she planned on finding Amon, she thought it best to put clothes on. Across from the bed, hanging on a coat rack, was her pilgrim dress and a smaller black dress.

Robin got up from the bed, walking over to the small dress. She lifted the material into her hand, glancing over every stitch and button. It wasn't Robin's normal fashion and exposed _too_ much skin to Robin's liking, but she'd have to live with it. Her pilgrim dress was damp, meaning the old woman had washed it. Of course Robin was appreciative, but she wished she could put her old dress on right at that moment.

After slipping the dress over her small figure, Robin slowly and quietly pulled the door back, glancing into office. She automatically caught site of Michael, whom was asleep on one of the pullout sofas. He was snuggled under a large comforter, which she guessed Haze had thrown over him. Haze was reclined back in a chair beside him, covered up with her black jacket. Glancing over towards the computers, she caught sight of Amon. The man was on his back, asleep on one of the sofas.

She smiled as she watched him sleep. Robin knew it was the first time in a long time, that the man had slept. Often when she was up during the night, she could hear Amon working from within his room. He looked peaceful as he slept and a few times Robin caught him shiver a bit. The night air had been quite chilly. She glanced back into the medical room, noticing a pile of folded sheets and comforters sitting in the corner. Picking out the thickest comforter she could find, Robin carried it over to Amon and covered him up with it.

He shifted a bit under the comforter, but quickly settled down. She watched him a few more moments, until she made her way back into the medical room. As she was about to enter into the room, a voice spoke up. Robin quickly turned around, nearly tripping over her own feet as she spun.

"How are you feeling?" asked Amon groggily, one eye glancing at Robin.

"Fine," she answered with a nod. She walked back towards the sofa, seating herself in a chair next to him.

"You should be in bed," he said, pulling himself up.

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm alright." Her smile faltered as she thought about Nagira.

"It's hard to believe," breathed Amon.

Robin nodded, noticing how Amon's eyes began to shake. He was looking at her with such intensity. She didn't know whether he was sad about what had happened, if he was mad at her, or if he was thinking about something totally different. "I'm sorry that it happened Amon."

"It's not your fault Robin."

"I just can't help but feel that way Amon."

"He chose to save us. You didn't make him do it. It was his own choice to help." Amon gave her a concerned look. Robin looked as if she were about to breakdown in tears once again. "If he hadn't done what he had, we might all be dead right now," his tone not as reassuring as he believed it to be.

"I know," she said sadly. She glanced over at Michael and Haze, whom were still fast asleep. "All because we're witches, a man had to die. I fear that they'll be next if SOLOMON figures out they're helping us."

She appreciated the help everyone had given her, but they were doing so at a great price. Helping her, meant they're life was at risk. SOLOMON would surely imprison or kill them if they found out about their assistance in harboring two fugitive witches. Especially when one of those witches was supposedly carrying the most powerful witch in existence.

"Would you rather they not help?" Amon asked, putout by Robin's attitude. Her depressing demeanor was starting to gnaw at him.

"That's not what I'm saying. I just hate that they'll suffer because they're helping us. They're help is most appreciated." She sighed and leaned back against the chair. "Who do you think those men were that attacked us?" she asked curiously

"I'd say SOLOMON, but it didn't seem like their style. The Factory wouldn't just send out a firing squad to take us out, so I don't believe its them. My guess is that Jaden has a new armada of men at his disposal. Though I'm not sure why he'd get them to shoot at us. I mean, he did want to turn you into SOLOMON. Unless he's changed his mind all of a sudden." Amon was starting to wonder if Jaden even cared about witches anymore.

He glanced over at Robin, whom's eyes were settled upon her hands, fingers interlaced together. "Nagira had told me something yesterday. Something I hadn't quite expected to hear." His eyes softened as he looked at her. "He told me that you were considering turning yourself into SOLOMON after the baby was born. Is that true?" he asked, his voice slightly shaky.

Robin felt tears stinging at her green orbs. She slowly nodded, feeling a tear slip down the side of her face. "Yes, I had considered it and I've been planning on doing this ever since I found out about the pregnancy. I just want both of you to be safe," she said sadly, glancing up at the man. Her heart skipped a beat as she met Amon's eyes. His face, which normally remained emotionless and cold, was soft and sad. Never had she seen him look that way before. It was as if she was looking at a completely different person.

"You can't," he said sternly.

"Why?" she asked innocently.

"I will not let you do this Robin. There is no way I'm allowing you to turn yourself into SOLOMON!" he hissed, trying not to awaken the two sleeping figures across the room.

"And why not? You and the baby's safety is important. Doing this may keep SOLOMON from hunting both of you."

"I won't allow anything to happen!" he said angrily, his voice raising.

"You can't assure that."

"And neither can you and your plan. I will do everything in my power to make sure you're both safe. Did I not promise that I'd watch over you when I became your warden?"

Robin's eyes hardened as she heard him speak those words. Those words weren't coming from a man truly concerned about his new family, but a man acting as a warden. A man watching over a fugitive. She looked down at her hands, trying to hide her look of hurt from him. "I suppose you did," she answered sadly.

Amon realized the sudden change in the girl. He didn't know what it was he had said to make her mood suddenly change. Could it have been about he being her warden? It did sound harsh the way he put it. The man went from sounding like a concerned family man to a warden of a prison. 'Don't you sound like a caring man.'

"I didn't mean. . ." he stopped as Robin got up to leave him. "Where are you going?" he asked confused.

"Back to bed," she said, her face turned from his gaze. She walked back to the bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind her.

Amon glanced at the door, mentally kicking himself for what he had said to her. 'She probably thinks you don't really care. You do, don't you?' he thought to himself. He did indeed care, but he could only admit that to himself. Amon went to stand up from the sofa, but stopped when he noticed two pairs of eyes staring back at him. "What!?" he snapped.

"Yes, you sounded _oh _so sincere," Haze said sarcastically.

"You were listening in?" Amon asked angrily.

"Obviously. You know, you _really _need to lighten up a little. Did you not see what just happened? Robin was starting to cheer up, knowing you were going to watch over her and the baby. . .and then you had to drop the warden crap into her lap. Bad, _bad _Amon," she said, shaking her finger at him.

"I meant what I said."

"God, you are so hardheaded! You're lucky if Robin wants to stick around with you. Amon, she doesn't need a warden, she needs someone who cares. Can you at least act like you do for once?" she spat.

Amon glared at the woman, throwing himself to his feet. He walked past her, his boots beating against the floor. Haze grabbed him by the arm as he was at arms length. She pulled him towards the chair, nearly pulling him off of his feet. The woman ignored the deadly glare she was getting from the cold man.

"Please lighten up, for her sake. She doesn't need all of this Amon. Things are stressful enough with her being hunted. Robin doesn't need you stressing her out more than she already is. It's not good for her or the baby. Just. . .just quit being you for the time being."

The man looked at her strangely. Quit being himself? He had never heard such a stupid thing before in his life. Why would he quit being himself? What good was that? If he wasn't himself, then who would he be? Was she wanting him to be some pompous little prick?

He pulled himself away from her, not bothering to comment on her outrageous request. Amon walked off towards the elevator, stopping when he reached the gates. Maybe he could lighten up and be less. . .Amonly. Nagira had told him how inhuman he acted around others. Perhaps he could give this a shot, but his only problem was that he only knew how to be himself.

Robin stood at the window, staring out at the quiet landscape of Raven's Flat. There wasn't a soul out on the street, not even a stray dog or cat. The air had grown quiet, colder than it was before. It seemed like a fitting atmosphere for the way she was feeling at that moment. She felt cold inside, all alone. Amon was exactly what he had told her he'd be, her warden. Was she expecting _more _from him? Why did she expect so much from him? The guy that treated her like trash the first time she walked into this building months ago, why did she expect so much from him now?

She leaned her forehead against the icy glass, wincing as the coldness stung at her skin. Below her, the wind picked up a few stray leaves, shuffling them into the air. They blew past the gates, which had begun to shake from the wind and the falling rain. The weather had been like this for quite a while. It wasn't normal for their to be storms this time of year, but there were. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a figure that stood out beyond the shadows of the night. Her eyes turned, meeting a pair of cold, grey eyes. Amon stood there, watching her from down below.

Robin quickly turned away from the window, pulling the curtains back. She walked off, pretending that she had never caught sight of the man. Why was he out there? Had he been watching her the entire time she stood there? Amon should have known to not be standing around there. What if someone spotted him and reported it to SOLOMON? As much as she wished she could, Robin would have ran down there and dragged him back in. Unfortunately she knew Haze wouldn't allow her to get past the elevator. Instead, Robin opted to go back to bed. It was surely too early to get up for the day.

Amon watched the small glass window where Robin once stood. The rain was beating down on him, threatening to wash the man away into the streets. He just stood there, looking at the window that divided he and Robin. She was mad at him, he was sure of that. Now he knew how it felt being her, when he shut her out. Though their reasons for leaving the other out in the cold was entirely different.

He knew what he was now, something he had feared for so long. When he first learned of his witch powers, they seemed dismal to him. Healing powers harmed no one, therefore he was no threat. Amon just found it odd that SOLOMON still wanted him, even though his powers weren't dangerous. Now he understood why. Those powers, the ones he'd grown to accept, weren't his only powers. The scientists that worked for Zaizen, had done more to him. Now, he was a Démos, something he despised. This is why he'd hidden himself from Robin for so long. His powers were threatening to take over him, something he couldn't allow to happen. That night in Robin's room, he felt himself slipping away, his powers taking over him. Those powers, he feared he wouldn't discover until it's too late.

The man hoped that there was something that could be done, something that could keep his powers from taking over. Those men had changed him, he was sure they could change him back, perhaps if he threatened them to do so. Perhaps that old woman knew of someone that did testing with the Factory. He would do anything—anything to get control of himself again.

The morning sunlight drifted through the offices of the STN-J, greeting Haze very unwelcomely. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, noting the aroma of coffee drifting through the room. At the coffee maker stood Michael, just pouring himself a cup of coffee. Amon sat in a chair next to the coffee maker, drinking coffee out of a large black mug. He didn't look pleased, nor restless. It appeared the man had gotten a good amount of sleep during the night.

"Good morning," she called over to the two, stretching as she stood up from her reclined chair.

"Morning," said Michael with a smile, pulling out another mug. He poured Haze a cup of coffee, bring it over to her.

"Thanks," she said, blowing the rising steam away from the top. She took a small sip, her face squinched as she tasted the bitter brew. Haze had grown use to a special coffee back home in Italy. It was extremely hard to find in Japan and much preferred over the brand Michael bought.

"Is Robin awake?" asked the woman, sitting her mug upon Michael's desk.

"Yeah, she's awake. I made her some tea earlier. She isn't feeling too well this morning." Michael winced as he remembered the sounds that had come from the restroom earlier that morning. "She _really _isn't feeling well."

"Well, what do you expect? She's pregnant. Morning sickness is normal for pregnant women."

"I know, but I'm not use to hearing her get sick in the morning. Nor anyone for that matter," said Michael with an uneasy smile.

Amon stood up from his chair, sitting his coffee mug next to the coffee maker. It was empty, but he hadn't bothered to sit it in the sink. Michael wasn't at all pleased, but wasn't going to dare scold the man for it. He feared Amon and his ferocious temper.

"The others will be here fairly soon. It's best that you two get going, but I don't know where to send you both," said Haze, rubbing her temples. "Do you have any good ideas?"

"My apartment," he looked at Haze curiously. "Is there been any surveillance over it?" he asked curiously.

She shook her head, her raven locks flapping across her pale face. "Nope, they never had it under surveillance actually. I was put in charge of looking over the place. So any usage of power, sewage, etc. they think came from me. SOLOMON knew you were too smart to go back to your apartment, knowing there was a hunt against you. I guess they didn't know you really weren't that smart," she said with a mischievous smile.

Before Amon could give Haze his signature stare, the elevator caught both their attention. It was moving up to the top floor, where they all stood. Amon knew it was one of the STN-J crew and they had no where to go. "Grab Robin now! Go down the stairs and head towards the bottom floor. There's a car parked down the block from here," barked Haze, handing him a set of keys and pushing him towards the room.

Robin and Amon went flying down the staircase, both nearly tripping over their jackets. Michael had luckily unlocked all of the doors, keeping Amon from having to input the security code. The keys Haze had given him weren't for just one particular car. They could be used on any of the STN-J vehicles.

Both of them made it to the bottom floor, luckily no one was in clear sight. Amon pulled Robin behind him, running over to the entrance to the tunnel. Robin didn't watch Amon as he attempted to open the entrance. Instead, she glanced at the brick wall, the one she had brought down all those months ago. It had been a diversion, which thankfully Amon had thought of. He was the reason she was still alive.

"It's been a while," Amon said to himself, pausing from his work as he glanced up at the distracted Robin.

She nodded and smiled sadly. "Yes it has. All those months ago. I thought they'd killed you."

"I'm lucky they hadn't," half-joked the man. "It was just pure luck that they'd used rubber bullets." The door to the tunnel slid open, Amon signaling for Robin to step in.

Robin found herself hesitating, remembering the last time he led her into the tunnel. 'He's not going to leave you again," she thought, mentally reprimanding herself. She grabbed the arm he held out for support, stepping down onto the small set of stairs. When her feet met the bottom, Amon's tall figured fell in front of her, the tunnel door quickly closing.

A few times Robin found herself wishing Amon had asked her the way out of the tunnel. Unlike the tunnel back at their previous home, this tunnel contained many passageways. It had taken her quite a while to get out of there. She heard Amon grunt every few minutes, as he hastily made his way through each and every wrong turn. Finally, she decided to help the lost man.

"Amon, I think we should have gone through that last passageway to the left. If I remember correctly, going through that passageway leads you out of the tunnel," she said softly, hoping his sudden temper didn't flare up. Thankfully he merely nodded in agreement.

They both walked a little ways back to the passageway Robin had mentioned, turning right as they reached it. Robin had indeed been correct about it leading to the exit of the tunnel. Soon they approached a small stairwell that led to the surface. Neither had ever been so happy to see the daylight. Amon pushed the small door open, the sunlight shooting into the tunnel, nearly blinding them both.

The tunnel had lead into an alleyway, which Amon recognized automatically. It was not that far from Touko's old apartment. _Touko_. He hadn't thought about her in quite a while. Amon began to wonder where she was and how she was doing. Then reality set in; he had no time to stand there and think about such a trivial thing. They needed to get to his apartment. Behind him, exactly where Haze said it would be, was the black car Amon knew all too well. It had been his old car, the one he had driven on many a hunt.

It hadn't taken them long to find Amon's old apartment. Both felt quite uneasy entering the apartment building. Luckily none of his neighbors had been out as they made there way towards the top floor. Everything seemed fine, until a little old woman stepped out of the apartment next to his. Robin would have ran and hid, but the old woman had been carrying a cane, which Robin realized was for her blindness. She looked over at Amon, whom looked quite annoyed.

"Good afternoon," said the woman, bowing her head in courtesy. "You haven't been here in quite a while young man," her voice cracking.

"How do you know it is him?" Robin asked shocked.

The old woman smiled and muffled a laugh. "It's not hard picking out his presence in a room. He's like a block of ice. You can feel the coldness radiating off of him."

Amon grunted, sneering as he glared at the woman. He would have scolded the old woman for saying such a rude thing to him, but he was stopped by the small, delicate hand that had placed itself upon his shoulder. Robin was looking at him, her expression telling him to backdown.

"You must be an amazing young woman to be able to keep his mouth shut," she joked, her laugh booming through the hallway. The woman calmed her laughs down, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry dear. It's just exceptionally funny to me. Please forgive an old woman's rudeness. I'm Uta Saya, a long time neighbor of the young man you're standing next to."

"Nice to meet you Ms. Uta," Robin replied, bowing slightly.

"And your name dear?" asked the woman curiously.

Robin wasn't sure if she really should answer the woman, but the decision was made once Amon grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward. "That is quite enough," he snapped, dragging her towards the apartment door. The old woman huffed in annoyance, sticking her tongue out at the dark-mannered man. It was taking all the energy within Robin to keep from laughing at the scene.

"It was nice meeting you," chirped Robin, being pushed into the apartment.

Mrs. Uta stood there for a moment, grinning as she heard the door to Amon's apartment slam shut. "He's being his usual self," she said, shaking her head. "Oh well." She made her way down the hall until she reached the elevator. "I wonder what such a nice young lady would be doing with a brute like him?"

Robin had never seen such a dreary and plain apartment in her entire life. She always believed her room back at the monastery was plain, until she caught a glimpse of Amon's room. Everything was black and brown, including the curtains that hung over the Victorian-style windows. Everything in the bathroom, including the toilet and bathtub, was the same as the rest of the house. 'He really likes black and brown,' she thought to herself. On his night stand sat piles upon piles of mail, which apparently had been brought in by Haze. Seeing as Amon was no where in sight, Robin skimmed through some of the letters. Towards the bottom of the pile sat a manilla envelope with no written return address.

Normally Robin was against prying in other people's business, but curiosity was getting the best of her. She tore the back of the envelope open, slipping out the small folded piece of stationery paper. The words on the paper were messily written, meaning the person that had sent the letter had been in a hurry. Robin read over the letter, eyeing Amon's bedroom door every so often.

_Dear Amon,_

_It's me. I hope you are doing well. As you can see, I harbor no ill will towards what happened those few weeks ago. I would like to know why? Why did you have to be the one to tie me up? What were you and those men planning to do with Robin? My father said I'm not permitted to see you ever again. I'd like to know why. If I have the chance again, I shall send you another letter. Please do not throw that one way, as I am sure you are about to do just that with this letter. Please Amon, just answer me back._

_Touko_

Robin folded the letter back up, slipping it back into the torn envelope. She had long forgotten about Touko, how the woman had once had a relationship with Amon. Or could that have ever been called a relationship? Surely both felt _something _towards one another. Perhaps that relationship faltered once Amon was ordered to hunt Robin. Touko was just something in his way of hunting her. Yet, he saved her instead of carrying out his duty. Maybe Amon never felt the way about Touko, that Touko felt about him? 'Or maybe you're trying to find reasons why he doesn't want Touko and wants you,' she thought to herself bitterly.

She skimmed through the remaining pile of mail, noting that all that remained were bills and junk. "Maybe she doesn't plan on mailing him back after all," she said to herself. Sitting the mail back onto the night stand, Robin made her way out of Amon's room and into the livingroom. On the couch, skimming through a box of old folders, was a very angry Amon. It seemed whatever he was looking for, wasn't there. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he snapped, shuffling through the box.

"It looks like something's wrong."

He threw the box into the floor, anger seething through him. "Nothing is wrong!" Amon closed his eyes, giving a heavy sigh. "Some of my old case files are missing. I think your friend Haze took them," he said drearily.

Robin knelt down and gathered the scattered folders back into the cardboard box. "Why do you think Haze took them?" she asked curiously. It didn't seem like Haze would do something that low, but then again she was a tricky individual.

"She was the last person in here," he spat.

"You don't know that."

Amon eyed the girl as if she were completely mad. "Well, then whom took the folders?" he said in a mocking tone.

The girl frowned as she stared at him. 'He always has to be so rude.' She shook her head, sitting the box of folders beside him on the sofa. "I don't know, but I just don't think it could have been Haze."

"You're just too blind to see the deceitful side in her," he growled.

"And you're too quick to judge. She's done a lot for us, hasn't she?"

"Yes, but there's something about her I just don't trust. You shouldn't put so much trust in her."

Robin shook her head, closing her eyes as a smile came to her face. "This is where we completely differ. You put little trust to so few." She sighed and looked towards the hallway, grinning. At the end of the hall, sat Amon's bathroom. Surely he wouldn't mind if she wanted to take a bath. A bath would soothe her spirits and get her out of Amon's hair.

"I'm going to go take a hot bath, if that is alright," said Robin, slowing walking away.

Amon nodded, not knowing what he was agreeing to. For all he knew, he was agreeing for her to jump out the window. He was far _too _busy seething over Robin's incompetence. 'She really is too trusting. It seems like she _wants _to put herself in harms way. Haze is the path to getting her killed, I just know it.'

He sat there a while, glancing at the box of folders that sat next to him. After flipping through a few of them, he heard nature calling. The man grimaced in annoyance, wondering why he just _had _to go. Amon had just stumbled upon an old case folder, one he had long forgotten about. He walked towards the bathroom door, noticing it was cracked open. Of course he wouldn't have thought Robin would have been in the bathroom with the door cracked, so he pushed the door open. Unfortunately for him, Robin was laying out in the bathtub, covered in bubble bath. When both their eyes met, their faces turned the brightest hue of crimson imaginable.

"Sorry!" choked Amon, quickly turning on his heels, desperately trying to throw himself out of the bathroom. Unfortunately when he turned around, his feet became tangled in the rug that lie on the linoleum floor. Amon soon found himself lying on top of a naked Robin, in the bathtub.

The man looked like a fish out of water. Amon arms were flapping around, desperately trying to pull himself out of the bathtub. When Amon finally got a hold of the edge of the tub, he threw himself out and into the bathroom floor. He had never been so embarrassed in his life. Unfortunately he wasn't having an easy time of hiding that embarrassment. It had taken Amon a moment to realize what had just happened. "Are you okay?" he asked, wondering if he had crushed the poor girl.

Robin nodded, trying her best to fight off the grin that threatened to consume her face. "I'm alright," she said, slipping an extra towel over herself. She slightly smirked as she saw the look of confusion and embarrassment that had come to him. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," he said, glancing down at his soaked form. Every inch of him above his knees was soaked in bath water and covered in bubble bath. He got to his feet, quickly making his way out of the bathroom. Amon didn't think he'd ever ran out of a room so fast in his life. 'Dear god, you fell on her and she was naked! You're not going to start those perverted thoughts again, are you?' he thought to himself.

Robin stepped out of the tub, shutting the door as she made her way to the mirror. Apparently Amon had been in such a frenzy to leave, that he'd neglected to shut the door back. She towel-dried her chestnut locks, grinning as she thought about what had just occurred. 'I'd never seen him look that way before. He was absolutely embarrassed.' "I guess he forgot I was in here," she said, slipping her pilgrim dress back on. As she slipped it down her chest, Robin grimaced as she felt the slight snug at her waist. "I'll have to get new clothes before long. It's strange that I'm starting to show _this _early."

She decided to leave her hair down for the day, seeing as she wasn't going out any more that day. Carrying two large towels, Robin proceeded towards Amon's room, where he was changing into some new clothes. The door had been opened, Robin catching a glimpse of Amon slipping a pair of pants back on. Her cheeks were turning crimson once again.

Amon caught sight of her at the door. "What are you doing?" he asked half embarrassed.

"I. . ." She stepped into the room, holding out the two towels for him. "I thought you may need these after your little fall."

Amon took them, nodding appreciatively. Robin gave him a slight smile, quickly turning to leave his room. Before she made it to the door, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She turned around to see Amon, staring at her quite intensely.

"You're sure that you're okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said with a nod. Once Amon lessened the grip on her wrist, Robin slipped herself out of the room. 'For someone that claims to not care, he sure does care a _lot_,' Robin thought to herself. She walked back towards the bathroom, stopping as she heard a knock coming from the front door.

Amon rushed past her, nearly knocking Robin into the wall. He peeped through the peephole, sighing heavily as he caught a glimpse of the person outside the door. Haze's small figure stood in front of the door, her body tilted with one hand on her popped hip. His eyes became tiny slits as he slowly began unlocking the door.

Haze rushed in, carrying bags upon bags of food and other items. Amon helped her by taking most of it, carrying it into the kitchen. Most of what he saw in the bags, were junk food, something he was really getting tired of. A few moments later, Haze stepped into the kitchen with a few more bags. Those bags were easily identifiable. It was food from Harry's.

"You won't believe what news I just received," said Haze, sitting the bags up on the counter.

"What?" asked Robin, whom had just stepped into the kitchen.

"Stretten has called off the search," she said happily, handing the phone over to Amon. "He sent me the email just a little while ago. I don't know what made him do it, but he's called it off! You guys are safe!" she cheered.

"They called it off?" Robin asked confused. "That means Jaden no longer has a reason to hunt us, correct?"

"Yes! I'm so relieved that this is over. Our only concern now is the Factory. It seems they're still looking for you. So I think it's best to lay low just a bit longer, until SOLOMON can arrest those men. You can go out in public, but just don't make a big spectacle of yourselves. Stretten said that once Zaizen recovers, he'll be put under arrest. Though that may be a while. Last I heard, Zaizen was in _bad _shape. One of his doctors said he looks nothing like he did before the Factory went down. He's like a burnt piece of meat, sitting in a hospital bed," said Haze with a grin.

"Has. . .has Touko been to see him?" asked Amon curiously.

Robin looked over at him, biting her lower lip at the mention of her old roommate's name. 'Why do you have to feel so hostile towards Touko? She has done nothing to you? All you have to do is hear her name and you get aggravated!' It wasn't like her to feel that way towards anyone.

"No, she hasn't been to see him. The last I heard, she was living in the United States, under a new name. I did a little digging a while back and found out she's seeing some wealthy lawyer. Seems she met him right after she arrived."

'That's why she hasn't written him back,' thought Robin. 'She met someone else. I guess she doesn't plan on mailing him again, unless she and this lawyer separate. Am I hoping they don't?' Robin was starting to hate these thoughts that were quickly invading her.

"Though," added Haze "there has been a woman coming in and leaving flowers for him every so often. No one knows her name, but the nurses at the hospital say she looks to be in her early fifties. She's been leaving him white lilies during each visit, a sign that she's hoping for his passing. It makes me wonder whom this woman is."

Haze sighed and glanced over at the two ex-hunters in front of her. "Well,"she said with a smile. "I think we have a lot to celebrate tonight. An end to the hunt, a baby, and a birthday!"

"Birthday?" asked Amon confused

"Yes, today is Robin's 16th birthday! It hasn't been much of a birthday, has it Robin? I bought a little cake for you. Master was kind enough to make it for me. Oh and don't worry, he doesn't know it was for you. I haven't told him about you being in town," she said with a wink.

Amon nodded, feeling dread overcome him. 'It's her birthday and you've been an asshole to her practically the entire day? Maybe Haze is right. I have to quit being myself. . .for now. The only question is, how do I do that!?' his mind yelled.

He glanced over at Robin, whom was positively beaming as Haze was talking to her about what she had planned for the evening. 'Just for tonight,' he thought. 'Just for tonight, I'll _not _be me.'

Dinner had been quite an awkward event for the three. Haze had brought dinner from Harry's, which Robin greatly enjoyed. Amon on the other hand, could care less where the food had come from. He was too busy thinking about Robin. Today she was of legal age, something he was beginning to find very intriguing. She appeared to be happy, with the small dinner Haze planned out for her. It seemed odd for him to be the one that hadn't bothered to do a _thing _for her. 'You should do something, anything,' his mind berated.

Haze seemed to be reading his thoughts. She looked over at him, smiling a mischievous smile. "So, I was wondering. You know that spare room down the hall? Are you planning to turn that into a nursery?" she asked curiously. The woman giggled as she saw the confused looked that formed on Amon's face.

"That'll be Robin's room," he said flatly.

"Really," she plucked a piece of beef from off of her plate with her chopsticks and tossed it into her mouth. "Because," she said swallowing, "I was sure you needed a nursery. It's a nice enough room to be one."

"If it's a nursery, then where will she sleep?" he asked irritated.

"With you," answered Haze with an evil smile. She nearly fell in the floor laughing as the two choked from her comment. Haze was having too much fun. Even Amon's powerful, but deadly glare didn't bother her.

"The room could always double as a nursery," said Robin, breaking the silence that had quickly consumed the group. She could feel the negativity emitting from Amon's cold form.

"I suppose it could." Haze sighed and tilted her head to the side, staring at Amon. "You're a real sweetheart."

"What!? " he asked confused.

"Not even offering," she said, popping another piece of beef into her mouth.

Robin glanced over at Amon, from the corner or her eyes. She could clearly see that he was ready to end this conversation. Of course she didn't mind if they ended it either. It was plain to see that Haze was up to her usual antics of being the trouble maker that she was. Often when they were living in Italy, Haze would be reprimanded for anything and everything she did. There wasn't a moment where Haze _wasn't _misbehaving.

"So, will you be returning to the STN-J after the Factory workers are caught?" asked Haze curiously, glancing back and forth at the two.

"I suppose I will," answered Amon, his eyes settling on his half eaten plate of food.

"And what about you?" she asked, eyeing Robin.

"Well," she said, picking up her cup of tea. "Hmm. . .I suppose I will."

"You will not," he snapped.

"Why not?" Robin asked innocently.

"I still don't think it would be safe for you to return in your current condition," he stated in an icy tone.

Robin just looked at him, confusion contorting her pale face. 'Condition? I'm pregnant, not incapacitated,' she thought to herself. "I could do work around the office." She hoped that he'd at least agree to that, but somehow she knew he wouldn't give in so easily.

"No."

Haze sighed heavily, nodding in agreement with Amon; something that _never _happened. She could see why Amon didn't want Robin to return to work. There still was a chance she'd be in danger. Someone, anyone, could still be after her, even with the Factory workers being gone. Maybe Robin would be better off not returning after all.

"Fine," breathed Robin irritated.

The remainder of dinner had been quite silent between Amon and Robin. Amon could tell Robin wasn't at _all _pleased by his decision. He was looking out for her and the baby. There was always the chance that something could happen to her on the job. In _no _way was he allowing her to go on any hunts with him.

Now that the hunt had been called off, they didn't have to live like fugitives any longer. They could go where they pleased, without worrying about SOLOMON catching them. It had taken him quite a while to think of what he could give Robin for her birthday, but he'd finally figured it out. Seeing as Robin would be staying with him, he would have to make a lot of changes around the house. Tomorrow he'd take her to get a few things. Hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about being chased by anyone.

He walked into the livingroom, where Robin sat on the sofa, watching a local news program. Haze had longed left, saying that she needed to stop back by the office and tell the others the good news. She told him that he would be able to start back at the STN-J soon after those involved with the Factory were caught, which he greatly appreciated. Amon had really missed work, the one thing that for a long time, kept him going.

Sitting next to Robin, Amon leaned his head back against the sofa, staring up at the textured ceiling. He was tired, stressed from anything and everything that had been happening the last few months. Finally they would have peace again and live somewhat normal lives. All they had to worry about now, was the baby. Somehow Amon didn't think this was going to be so bad after all.

"You're happy to be returning, aren't you?" asked Robin.

Amon nodded, closing his eyes. "Yes, I am happy to be returning."

"I'm glad you are."

"Tomorrow I'm taking you to buy a few things," he said plainly.

She slightly smiled and nodded, her chestnuts locks bouncing across her back. "You know, I don't have to stay here anymore. We're both free now," she said, in a somewhat sad tone.

His eyes fell open, his head quickly turning to look at her. Was she saying that she didn't want to be around him any longer? Had he done something to make her uncomfortable? 'The question is more like, what _haven't _you done to her.' "Where would you go? The old apartment you and Touko lived in?" he asked in a sarcastically.

Robin squinched up her nose at the sound of Touko's name and because of Amon's sardonic question. 'You're doing it again!' "I don't know where I'd go, but it wouldn't be back to the apartment. I just don't want to intrude on you any longer," she said softly.

"You're not intruding," he said flatly.

"I feel like I am."

"Well you're not." Amon felt his cheeks turn crimson. "I don't want you going anywhere else." There, he said it. He wanted Robin there with him, where he could see she was safe. Her leaving was _not _an option.

"Thank you." She felt tears stinging at her emerald eyes.

"Amon?" she asked.

"What?"

"Why do you have two rooms in your apartment?"

"I just do."

Robin looked at him curiously. She'd never heard of someone having two rooms in an apartment and not having a purpose for the second room. Perhaps the other room served as an office or training room. Or maybe someone had once been staying with Amon.

"The other room isn't set up yet. You can take my room for now. Tomorrow we'll go out and pick up some furniture for the other room."

It felt odd to be receiving things from Amon, when he wasn't expecting something in return. Here he was, offering her a place to live and even buying for her. How would she ever thank him? Surely there was something s he could give him, but what could it be? Someday she'd figure it out.

"Don't you find it odd?" asked Robin absentmindedly.

"Find what odd?" he asked.

"That SOLOMON suddenly stopped the hunt. Why would they? What made Stretten change his mind?"

"Maybe it was Juliano." Amon had to agree with Robin. It was certainly strange that Stretten, a man that had tried his best to capture them both, suddenly stopped the hunt for them. Was this maybe a trick?

"What if he's doing this to draw us out? Get us while we're vulnerable?"

"Possibly," he answered. Amon looked over at the clock that hung over the television set. It was a little after eleven. "I think it's best that we get to sleep."

Robin nodded and sighed. "Can I ask you something?" she asked curiously.

"What?"

"Do you only think of me as some prisoner you have to watch over?" Her voice was slightly quivering.

Amon looked at her, his icy cold eyes softening. She was speaking of the previous night, what he had said to her about he being her warden. Normally he'd just lie, pretend that he didn't give a damn about her, but he couldn't find himself doing it then. Just looking at her, her small frame sitting on the sofa, her soft green eyes staring back at him, they was melting his cold exterior.

"No I don't," he answered.

"I'm glad to know," she said with a smile.

The morning had been remotely quiet for both of them. After an hour of debating, Robin finally took Amon's room for the night, which he'd been telling her to do all night. As soon as Amon was finished with his daily phone call with Haze, both headed towards Kichiba Furnishings. They walked through the doors to the store, staring at the plethora of furniture and accessories that was scattered throughout the show floor. It was going to be hard to pick out a bed quickly. Amon had never been in such a huge store before. All the furnishings in his apartment had been purchased through a small store that had closed down only a few months ago. If it was still opened, he would have just taken her there. Unfortunately, this was the only store in the city that was opened.

Robin had looked through an enormous variety of beds, before she settled on a bed set, similar to the one she'd had at their previous home. The only exception was that it had draperies hanging from the top. Amon was ready to pay for it, until he and Robin passed the baby section. He had caught a glimpse of the cribs, remembering what Haze had told him the previous night. Eventually they'd need a nursery.

"Is something wrong?" asked Robin.

"What do we do about the nursery?" he asked.

"Well, like I said last night, my room can double as a nursery. We don't have to worry about it for a while though."

'What? You want her to sleep in your room with you?' He mentally chastisized himself for having those thoughts. Though he really didn't like the idea of Robin having to share a room with the baby. The room was small enough as it was. Having her bed _and _a baby's crib would be too much. "It's too small."

"We'll manage," she said, tugging at his coat sleeve.

He nodded and walked off with her, quietly sighing. It couldn't be helped. The nursery was already bothering him. Sure they had a while until the baby was born, but didn't expectant parents usually start planning early? How early did they usually start? As much as he hated to admit it, he and Robin _would _have to share the same room. Did he really find the thought of it _that _disturbing?

"Haze got to you."

"No," he said flatly, throwing a few stray strands of raven from his face with the palm of his hand. True, Haze _was _getting to him, but he wasn't going to admit that to Robin, nor _anyone _for that matter. "She isn't getting to me."

Robin knew better than to believe him. It was fairly obvious that Haze _had _gotten to him. She wouldn't push him any farther about it, knowing very well that it would flare up his vicious temper. Instead, she'd pretended that she believed him, though she was sure that it was obvious that _she _was lying too.

They both walked up to the counter at the front of the store, being greeted by one of the cashiers. She was a tall woman, nearly two inches shorter than Amon. Her bleached-blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, her face plastered in powder that was far _too _light for her complexion. Amon wasn't aware that he had been giving the woman a disgusted look, until Robin tugged on his jacket sleeve. It had been her bright red lipstick that made him look at her the way he did.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman, quite irritated by the look Amon had just given her.

"Yes, I'd like to buy this bed set," he said, sitting down a piece of paper, listing all the information that was posted on the bed set ticket.

"Fine," she said, grabbing the ticket and looking at it. After giving Amon an unrecognizable look, she walked into the back office.

"I think this may take a while," sighed Robin.

After nearly an hour of utter frustration, nail biting, and yelling, they both emerged from the store, furnitureless. It seemed the bed set, much to Amon's distress, would take one week to ship. Unfortunately being the only furniture store in town meant that it had an over-exuberant amount of business. Now Amon had to figure out a way to get Robin furniture and the search was looking bleak. The nursery was bothering him again.

"I suppose I could sleep on the sofa for now," whispered Robin, knocking the man out of his trance.

He shook his head disapprovingly. Amon could be cold, but not cold enough to make a pregnant woman sleep on a sofa, whilst he slept in a nice comfy bed. The man wasn't _that _heartless. "No, you'll take my room for the time being," he said stoically.

"I don't want to," she said defiantly.

"You _will_."

"Or what?" Robin stopped, giving Amon the glare he had commonly used as a mental weapon against anyone and everyone.

Amon lifted a brow, amazed that Robin was showing such protests against sleeping in his room. What was wrong with it? In all honesty, Amon didn't have an answer to her questions. He hadn't planned on the discussion reaching this level. "You're staying in there and that's final!" he hissed, grabbing her by the arm, pulling her towards the car.

Robin sighed, relaxing as Amon dragged her to the car. They were parked along the street, not too far from Nagira's lawfirm. Neither had acknowledged that fact to the other, rather they kept it to themselves. She wished that she could just walk into the lawfirm and find Nagira, fixing to step out for Pachinko.

After spending nearly ten minutes finding Amon's car keys, which had accidentally been left at Kichiba, they both made their way to the next stop for the day. The drive would be like every drive between the two, quiet. Robin just wondered how the next few days would be. She didn't exactly like taking Amon's room from him, but he insisted on her doing so.

"Are you scared of becoming a father?" she asked out of the blue.

Amon eyed her, wondering what had brought up this sudden discussion. Had he said or done anything that made her think that? "No," he answered nonchalantly

"I'm afraid of becoming a mother."

Amon looked at her peculiarly. "Why?"

Her eyes settled down at her abdomen, a sad smile coming to her face. "I just am." She was scared for many, many reasons. Mostly what troubled her was her _own _childhood. Robin wanted her child to have a family, a _loving _family for that matter. Surely the child wouldn't get it between the two of them. All she could do was try her best and just love this child.

"You don't have to be." Amon brought the car to a sudden halt. They were sitting in front of a department store called 'Morinaga Clothing.' "It's not like you're going to do this alone."

"I know," she said, interlacing her fingers together. "I just can't help but feel this way."

"You're worried that it will grow up without a mother or father," he said, turning off the ignition to the vehicle.

Robin nodded and gave a sad sigh. "I don't want it to be raised like I did, well, in the non-parental sense. Growing up, I often wondered what my parents were like. What if something happened to both of us and this child was all alone?"

"It won't be." Amon's hands rested on top of the steering wheel. His eyes settled on the large, sienna-bricked building in front of him. "I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen," he said reassuringly.

"Thank you."

He nodded, opening the door and stepping out. "Come on. We need to get you some new clothes," he said, slamming the door shut. Amon made his way into the store, not even waiting up for Robin, whom was struggling to catch up with him.

'Sometimes I wonder why he always leaves me having to chase him,' she thought drearily. Robin glanced around the Morinaga Clothing store, amazed by the plethora of clothing that sat out in the show floor. She wondered if Amon had noticed her 'tight situation' with her dress. It was funny that she was already getting too big for her clothing and she was barely 8 weeks yet.

Amon sat quietly, waiting for Robin to finish trying on the different dresses he'd pretty much thrown at her. She'd been back in the dressing room a while, which had further annoyed him. 'How long does it take a woman to try on a damn dress!?' he thought irritably. He wasn't a picky person when it came to clothing. As long as it was a black pair of pants or a loose-fitting shirt, he'd wear it.

As he sat there, staring out into the crowd of women shuffling through the clothes racks, a pregnant woman and assumably her husband, passed in front of him. They looked happy and carefree, as if nothing could destroy their happy little world. Amon thought he and Robin must look like the epitome of depression. Here they were, two people expecting a baby and neither looked overjoyed like that couple. Instead, they looked like two convicts about to spend a lifetime in prison.

'There is a way to quit being you. Just free yourself a little. Quit being a block of ice all the time. Act like a human being,' his mind berated. His attention, which had previously been on the couple whom were exiting the store, set to the figure standing next to him. Robin stood there, holding a small pile of dresses in her arms. She didn't look at all pleased.

"Did you find anything?" His face scrunched up as he watched her head shake. "Well, what's wrong with these clothes!?" he asked quite irrate.

"They show too much skin," she said softly.

"Too much skin?"

"Yes, _too _much skin. My arms and most of my legs aren't even covered by those dresses."

Amon's left temple twitched in annoyance. 'You mean to tell me that this girl, whom sleeps naked, _can't _wear a dress that exposes her arms and below her knees?' "You'll have to bare with it," he said, grabbing the dresses from her.

Robin whimpered in protest, but stopped as she was given Amon's glare of silence. "Fine," she sighed. She followed him up to the front counter with the few other little items that Amon had permitted her to buy. One of those items was a pair of slippers, which Robin would wear around the house. Amon's apartment floor had fairly rough carpeting, which Robin disliked.

-Somewhere in Tokyo-

The sound of reconstruction filled the ears of all those that passed through the streets in Tokyo. Across from an old cathedral sat the construction site, the building of a much larger edifice than the cathedral. Men worked hastily, taking the skeleton of the building and making it into something much finer, much more than just a skeleton. This building, one that would surpass all those that surrounded it, was to be the new headquarters for The Factory. On the outskirts of the construction site, stood three individuals, watching the contractors work their magic.

One of those individuals, his body half wrapped in bandages, sat in a wheelchair, staring blankly at the bare-boned building. Parts of his charred skin, exposed to the air, sent chills down the two standing next to him. Just as before, Zaizen's eyes had nothing left in them. He was like a lifeless puppet, sitting and watching the world around him move.

"How long?" said Zaizen, his voice croaky and lifeless.

One of the men standing next to him, cleared their throat. "We were told only one week. These men work fast." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small picture of a woman. "I thought I should inform you. She shall be returning this week," said the man, dropping the picture to eye level with Zaizen. "And your wife," he cleared his throat, pausing to see the look Zaizen would give him for mentioning the woman. "She says it's a shame you didn't die in the hospital."

If the man had smiled or frowned, it was not apparent through the torrent of bandages surrounding his face. He barely nodded in acknowledgment. Sticking out his index finger, which looked like a piece of burnt wood, he signaled for the other man to take him away.

"Sir, are you sure you should be out of the hospital. I mean, your doctors said. . ."

"I'm fine," grunted Zaizen.

The man stepped away, allowing the other, a much taller bruting man, to push Zaizen away. He watched as the two left, a few of Zaizen's bandages going astray. As the two made it past the end of the site, Zaizen's eyes shifted back over to the building.

"This time I'll put an end to it all."

_**That's the end of Chapter 8. Kind of a filler chapter I guess you'd say. ; Yes, it's been quite a while since I posted a chapter. It's been quite a bad month for me and I've been depressed for quite a while. The other morning I finally got up and started writing and also managed to work on my new web site. visit my profile to get the link. The new layout should be up soon**_

_**The next chapter is. . .well. . .sad I guess. We still have quite a few more chapters until we enter the second part of this story. O.O "Like OMGWTFBBQ, did she says there's a second part!!!!?????" XD watches someone cry and run off Lol, I'm still debating whether it will be just 2 or 3. .O**_

_**Anywho, the next chapter will hopefully be out a lot sooner than these last few chapters have.**_

_**Preview of next chapter:**_

_Old Heartache. . . . . Consequences of one's lies. . . . . .Dying Flames. . . ._


	9. Dying Flames

Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Dying Flames

It had been a strange 3 weeks for both Amon and Robin, which was much to say considering their last few months had been far from normal. Amon returned to Kichiba Furnishings one early morning, not bothering to tell Robin he'd be gone. He was hoping this would just be a quick stop, which of course it _didn't _turn out to be. After sitting in traffic for nearly one hour, Amon discovered that the only furniture store in all of the city, was closed.

"What do you mean it's closed down?" Amon growled quite annoyed.

A short, bald, fifty-something man stood in front of Amon, giving the cold ex-hunter a _very _nervous smile. It was apparent that he wasn't use to someone of Amon's stature _nor _presence. His grey suit seemed to make the man look even more sickly than he was.

"Please sir, it had to be closed down. Some pipes froze over and exploded. It's unsafe to let anyone in and," the man was cut short by Amon.

"Pipes froze over? The temperature never reached near freezing last night."

"Ah, yes—yes sir. No one understands how this happened, but surely we'll find out soon enough. We—we don't know when the store will open again unfortunately."

Amon wondered if he was being punished for something he'd done. Now what was he to do? Would he just spend the rest of his life sleeping on a couch? He couldn't very well send Robin out of his room, all because he was too stubborn to place the order at Kichiba's three weeks before.

He walked off, not even responding to the man, whom he presumed was the owner of the store. Amon couldn't help but question if Haze had anything to do with this. Though it was highly unlikely, seeing as Haze couldn't possibly freeze over the pipes in a department store. 'Now you're just thinking crazy,' Amon thought to himself.

"_The search for the local missing Lawyer, Syunji Nagira, is still underway. The remains found at the scene of Sunday's gruesome car accident on the outskirts of Tokyo, were discovered to be that of 36 year old Kaijiro Furiko. No further information has been found on Mr. Kaijiro. It is believed that there may have been more people involved in this accident. If you have any information regarding the accident or the whereabouts of Syunji Nagira, please call the station at. . ." _Robin clicked the television off, sighing as she thought about what she had just heard.

"They're making it as if he's the bad guy," she said sadly. Amon had been gone most of the morning, so he probably knew nothing about this new turn of events. Was it SOLOMON making it look like Nagira was the bad guy? Or was it Jaden and his men?

She sat the remote down on the couch and stood up, stretching her arms out. The sunlight was now beating down against the window, escaping through the barely hanging curtains. Seeing as there were no lamps nor lights around the room, the sunlight was the only source of light. 'Why does he keep so little?' she thought to herself.

Robin straightened up the curtains, glancing around at the room. There was so much she could get done while Amon was away. It wasn't like she was a stranger to straightening up a house. She remembered the mess Touko's home was in when she first arrived. Amon's apartment was no picnic either.

For nearly an hour, she washed dishes, windows, counters, tables, straightened Amon's bedroom, vacuumed every room in the house, and fixed a fairly large lunch for she and Amon. Each task had been considerably difficult, seeing as Amon did not seem to own a vacuum, vacuuming became the hardest task. Fortunately for her, Amon did own one, but it wasn't put together. Under Amon's bed was an unopened box, holding a very high priced vacuum.

While straightening up Amon's room, she came across a tattered looking photo album. She glanced up, hoping Amon hadn't slipped into the apartment and was watching her. Once she saw he wasn't there, she flipped the book open. Her mind berated her for being nosey, but Robin couldn't help it. Curiosity just kept getting the best of her.

The first picture Robin looked at, was of a woman, a woman Robin thought was very beautiful. She was sitting on a bench in what looked like the park she had passed by many times while going to church months ago. In her lap was a very small little boy, one whom Robin recognized. It was Amon, a very happy looking Amon. They both seemed to be enjoying themselves in the park. Amon had never told her much about his mother, it had been Nagira whom had told her a bit about her. Unfortunately neither would tell her _why _Amon had exactly hated his mother. What had she done to make her son hate her so?

She flipped to the next page, to see a young Amon again, this time standing next to someone Robin hadn't expected to see. Amon, unlike the photo before, looked like he was dead. His gaze was hazy, as if there was nothing on the inside looking out. The man standing next to him had a hand on his shoulder, smiling proudly as he stared into the camera. Staring back at her was Zaizen, a somewhat smug look on his face.

"Amon went to Zaizen after his mother died?" she said shocked.

Robin flipped through a few more pages, accidentally knocking a piece of paper from out of the album. She picked it up from the floor, slowly glancing at it as she rose back up. It was a letter sent from Zaizen nearly fifteen years ago. 'Maybe he talks about Amon's mother in the letter,' she thought to herself.

_Dear Amon,_

_I would like to thank you for writing me. It is good to know that your training is going well. Soon you will be able to transfer here to the STN Japan, as I was given permission by Mr. Montgomery_ _to do so. I ask you to not respond back to this letter. We shall meet soon enough. Amon, I must also ask that you speak to no one about the nature of your mother's hunt. It is best if it kept secret. Thank you for understanding. I look forward to seeing you._

"What happened to her?" Robin stuck the letter into the back of the album, closing it just as a knock came from the front door. She slipped the album into a drawer in the night stand. At first she thought it must have been Amon, whom had probably misplaced his key again.

Robin pulled the door back, meeting the face of a very cheerful man. Someone in Robin's opinion, didn't seem to belong in such a dreary place. Her eyes traveled down to his arms, where he held a package. It was fairly small, leaving Robin to wonder what Amon could possibly have bought.

"Are you Syunji Robin?" he asked politely.

The girl went to say no, but then remembered she and Amon were _supposedly _married. 'I nearly forgot,' she thought embarrassed. "Ah yes, I am," she said with an uneasy smile.

"I have a package for you," said the man, scanning the package before handing it to her. "Have a nice day." He walked off, leaving Robin quite dumbfounded.

Who could possibly send _her _a package? Besides Haze and Michael, who else knew she was there? She walked back into the apartment, quickly shutting the door behind her. Robin felt childlike, knowing there was some mysterious package here for her. What could be inside of it? Then a deadening feeling set over her. _What if it was something horrible?_

She grimaced, sitting the package on the coffee table in front of her. "Hmm. . .what to do. . ." she said, her eyes settling upon the small parcel. Should she wait until Amon returned before opening it? What if it _was _dangerous? 'Or maybe it's something from Haze and she thought it would be nice to send it instead of bring it by?'

Curiosity quickly set in once again, which Robin wished hadn't. She bit her lip, clinching her eyes closed. 'Wait till he gets back!' her mind scolded. Robin opened up one eye, looking at the package. "Maybe—maybe if I just peeked." Her hands quickly wrapped around the corners of the box, turning it over to the taped side.

It took her only a few seconds to retrieve a knife from the kitchen and cut the box open. She slowly flipped the box flaps back, her eyebrow raising as she looked at the contents of the box. Inside sat a pair of pajamas made for a baby and a few random toys. There was no note, no sign of who had sent the package.

Robin had to admit, the pajamas were quite adorable and unlike anything she'd seen in Morinaga Clothing. The toys, which were comprised of an assortment of rattles and stuffed animals, were very beautiful. Whomever had sent them, must be quite wealthy. 'Maybe Amon sent them.' Though it could be possible, it didn't seem like something Amon would do. He didn't seem like somebody to do something so _nice_.

Another knock came from the door, which she had not been expecting. Robin hoped it was Amon, so she could ask him if he knew anything about this package. She sat the package down on the table and walked over to the front door, pulling the door open. Perhaps it wasn't such a wise decision to just throw the door open as she had. If she had just peeked through the peephole on the door, she would have seen that standing outside, was Touko.

"Touko?" Robin said shocked. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad seeing her old roommate. A sickening feeling fell over her as she gazed at the woman.

"Robin?" Touko gasped. "Wha—what are you doing here?" she asked quite surprised.

Robin, as hard as she tried, gave the woman a small uneasy smile. This clearly had to look awkward to Touko. She was standing in _Amon's _home, answering _his _door. "I'm. . .um. . .staying with Amon for a little while." Unfortunately it didn't sound quite as convincing at it did in Robin's mind.

"You're _staying _with Amon?" Her question seemed half confused, half frightened.

"Yes," she answered, realizing why Touko's question seemed so uneasy in tone. Amon _had _been involved in the hunt with her those many months ago. It must have seemed strange to Touko that she'd be staying with the person that was suppose to be hunting her.

"Well, is Amon home?"

"No he isn't. I'm not quite sure where he's gone off to. He didn't bother to tell me." 'As if he'd tell me anyway,' she thought bitterly. Robin realized how rude she must seem, though she didn't know if Amon would approve of what she was fixing to do. "Would you like to come in?"

The woman nodded, smiling as she quickly made her way past the girl. Robin closed the door behind her, her hands still settled upon the doorknob. She was pausing, trying to figure out how she was going to get herself out of this. How much could she possibly tell Touko? After all, she was Zaizen's daughter. How much of it would she tell to her father?

Robin turned around to meet face to face with Touko, only to find the woman's attention was on the small package on the coffee table. She felt her breath catch in her throat. Was Touko going to start asking her questions? How would she get past this?

"So, how have you been?" she asked, her gaze slowly raising to meet Robin's.

"Fine," Robin answered, walking over to pick up the box. "It's been quite an interesting past few months."

"I'm sure it has," Touko said with a bitter smile. She glanced at her watch and sighed. "Would it just be best if I came at another time? You know, when Amon's _here_?" It wasn't hard to detect the sudden awkwardness in her voice.

"No, I'm sure he'll be here soon. Please, make yourself comfortable." Robin walked off towards Amon's bedroom, sitting the package on top of the bed. She wondered if Touko would walk around the house, noticing how there was only one bedroom. What would she think by seeing that?

Another knock came from the front door. 'Please let it be Amon!' she thought sadly. She so hoped it was him, he knew how much Touko needed to know of this situation. Unfortunately when she pulled the door back, it was the same man that had brought her the package. He held an envelope in his hand.

"I forgot to give this to you Mrs. Syunji." He handed it over to her with a nervous smile. "It came along with the package. Please forgive me for leaving it," he said with a bow.

Robin nodded, trying her best to give the departing man a smile. It was hard to smile, knowing Touko must have heard what the man had called her. 'What does she think of this? Now she'll definitely ask questions.' She closed the door, dread quickly setting in.

"Mrs. Syunji?" asked Touko, shock wreathing through her voice.

It had taken Robin a few moments to realize that Touko had spoken to her. She was surprised to hear that the hint of confusion in Touko's voice didn't seem to display anger nor sadness. If she was angry or sad, she was doing a great job of hiding it from Robin. 'Is she really okay about this?' Robin thought puzzled.

"Erh. . ." Robin paused a moment, trying to think of how to word this. 'It seems like anything I say will be awkward. Why couldn't you be here Amon?' She sighed and slowly nodded, her chestnut locks bouncing against her shoulders. Robin knew she must look like a mess to Touko, the neatly dressed woman standing in front of her. Compared to Robin, Touko seemed like the person Amon _should _have been with.

"You and Amon are married?" She smiled just at the thought of Amon being _married_. "This is quite unbelievable. So how long have you two been married?" Still any sadness or anger that she may have been feeling wasn't apparent through her facial expressions nor tone of voice.

'How long have we supposedly been married?' Robin hadn't kept track, which probably was a bad thing. 'I wish I knew where the marriage license was.' "Well, we've been married for a few months. Not for very long really. We just moved in about 3 weeks ago, after being out of town for a while."

Touko nodded, giving Robin a quite uncomfortable smile. "I noticed the package sitting on the coffee table. Are you two expecting? It seems strange for someone so young to already be starting a family," she said eyeing the girl. She noticed that Robin had put on a little weight.

Much to Robin's happiness, another knock came from the front door. Hopefully it wouldn't be the package guy again, saying he forgot to give her something else. Fortunately when she opened the door, Amon stood there, looking quite irate. He must have attempted to buy a bed set again and failed.

"Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Amon stepped into the room, not even noticing Touko standing to the side. If he had, he probably wouldn't have been talking so harshly. "Why didn't you answer the phone?" he asked angrily. "I thought something had happened. Did you turn it off again?"

Robin's cheeks turned crimson in embarrassment. She had turned the phone off early that morning, hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep. If she had known Amon was going to call her, she wouldn't have done so. "I'm sorry Amon, I didn't know you tried to call."

He went to respond, but noticed the figure that stood to his side. For a moment he thought he was seeing things. Touko? Here? Why would she be here? His eyes turned hastily towards Robin, who was still apologizing for turning off the telephone. 'Why hasn't she bothered to tell me Touko's here?'

"Hello Amon," said Touko, causing Amon to turn on his heels. He did not answer back, merely nodding in response to her greeting. Not once did he bother to make eye contact with her, more like trying to avoid her eyes for as long as possible. 'What kind of questions has she been asking Robin? She probably is wondering why we're living together.'

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a fairly harsh tone, much harsher than he had meant to sound. He didn't want his first encounter with Touko since the incident in the apartment to be unpleasant. Though it was already turning out that way, without his help as he began to notice. She didn't seem at all pleased by what she was seeing as she looked at the two of them standing before her.

"Well," she flicked a few stray strands of hair behind her shoulder, "I thought I'd stop by to see you since I'm visiting Japan. Seems you've been pretty busy these last few months," she said with a somewhat mischievous smile.

Amon's eyes traveled over to Robin, whom was staring down at the floor, doing her normal 'uncomfortable' stance. "What do you mean by 'busy?'" He was really starting to wonder how much Robin really _had _revealed about their situation. Before he could answer again, Robin began walk past him, heading towards his bedroom.

"Where are you going?" he asked confused.

"I thought I should leave you two alone to talk." Robin sat a hand on his arm, assuring him that everything would be fine. She continued towards the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Questions began to plague her mind as she sat down on the four-poster bed, her mind wondering if she really should have left them alone. 'They're just talking Robin. Nothing will happen and you know that. Even if something did happen, does it matter? You know he doesn't love you.'

Touko paced across the hardwood floor, keeping her gaze away from the cold figure standing in the middle of the room. He didn't seem at all pleased by her arrival, which Touko hadn't been expecting. She had never felt such coldness and distance coming from him before.

"So you two are married? Isn't that ironic?" Her voice seemed quieter than usual, as if she was holding back harsh unsaid words.

"What do you mean _ironic_?"

"That you'd marry someone that you'd assured to me that you felt nothing towards." She remembered those few months ago, when she had spoken to Amon while he was on a hunt, that he had admitted that he felt nothing towards Robin.

Amon knew what she was speaking of, but he had changed since then. Not that he could easily admit that to anyone. "This is a complicated situation."

"Do you care about her?" Touko's voice seemed to change from quiet to stern instantly. She had thought of Robin as a younger sister, someone she looked out for. If Amon had been lying to her about how he felt, she wanted to know, even if she herself still had little feelings for him.

"As I said, this situation is complicated," he said coldly.

"She's carrying your child and you don't care about her?"

"There are reasons why I can't care about her."

"Why can't you?"

"You don't know what's going on with me. If you were in my shoes, you wouldn't want to be near her either." Wouldn't anyone in his situation, knowing that they had powers that could harm those they loved, want to stay away? Was he making the right decision by doing this?

"Just answer something for me," her eyes had hardened into a cold stare as she glared at him, his head turned from her gaze. "Does any of this involve my father? I know some of what has happened Amon. He's told me much about the day at the Factory. Amon, he was doing what he thought was right. My father's sick in the head. We both know that."

"Sick in the head? Touko, he's _mad_! You have no idea about was he's done to Robin and I."

"I know my father has always had a certain hatred for witches. For a long time, I felt the same as he, that witches didn't belong here. My mother had supposedly been killed by a radical witch, which is why I grew to hate them as well. Though. . .not to the extent my father has. Using the essence of a witch to kill other witches is disgusting. You know very well that my father was never the same after my mother's death."

He nodded in agreement, his eyes overcasting as he glanced down at the floor. Amon remembered Touko's mother very well. She was a tall, beautiful woman with the most unusual blue eyes, a color very rare to see. It seemed they were a happy family, up until she was killed by a witch, trying to escape from the law. Days after her death, Zaizen came to visit Amon, whom was staying at SOLOMON headquarters. He remembered Zaizen's attitude change, how he no longer seemed like the same man he'd grown to know in Japan. The man that took him in after his mother's hunt was no longer the same. Instead, standing before him, was a cold man, one that was determined to stop those that abused their powers, or rather those who showed any signs of the craft.

"I do remember, but that doesn't excuse his actions."

"You've changed quite a lot," she said amazed, giving him a small smile.

"I know I have," he grunted.

Sighing, she walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She was quite surprised to see him flinch under her touch, something she hadn't expected. Her eyes rose up to meet his, the first time they'd made eye contact. There was hint of satisfaction in her eyes, which Amon didn't quite understand.

"You are quite the liar Amon," she teased, walking towards the front door.

"What are you talking about?" he asked dumbfounded.

She shook her head slowly, her hair covering her sad eyes. It seemed she'd gotten the answers to all the unspoken questions she'd had upon arriving. Touko pulled the door open, walking a little ways out before hearing Amon call back to her. "I've seen enough to know what I need to know. It was nice seeing you again Amon."

"Touko?" He didn't understand what had just happened or why she was suddenly leaving. What had he done to make her act like this? Did he say something wrong?

"Amon, don't hurt her _again_," she said, walking off towards the elevator, leaving a confused Amon standing in the doorway.

"Don't hurt her _again_?" he whispered, confused as to what she meant by that. It wasn't the first time he'd heard someone say that to him. Nagira had said the very same thing to him the day of the accident. Was this a sign? Or just a mere coincidence?

It wasn't long until Robin heard the front door shut, which she in a way had _hoped _would happen. That meant Touko and Amon were done talking. She wondered what they had been talking about for so long, much of the conversation surely had to be about her.

Her hair spread across the comforter as she laid back against the bed. With each breath she took, her chest slowly rose, shaking. She couldn't understand why she was feeling so resentful towards Touko, whom had never done anything to make her think or feel this way. Maybe it was the fact that if felt as if the woman was stepping into her territory. Was it just her wavy hormones making her act like this?

'What if Amon really does love Touko? Could you accept that?' She closed her eyes, contemplating whether she _really _could stand such a situation. "What would I do?" she whispered sadly. The only thing she could do was let time play out. There wasn't anything she could do to get an answer from Amon, he rarely told her anything. Eventually she'd find out the truth, though it was killing her to wait.

A knock came from the bedroom door, but Robin just laid there with her eyes closed. She heard Amon call her name from outside the door, his voice highly aggravated. It was obvious that he was not at all pleased by the fact that she'd left him with Touko.

She didn't have time to answer him before he threw the door open. He stood at the door, staring at her still form. For a moment, it looked as if she were lifeless, but her rising chest told otherwise. Amon didn't say a word to her, all he did was stare as she lay there on the bed. Until now, he hadn't noticed that Robin had put on a bit of weight, which was now a little noticeable. Nearly three weeks had passed since they'd moved into the apartment and since then, he'd thrown around the word 'baby' as if it was only a word. It wasn't until now that he remembered that there, growing inside of her, was their child.

"You didn't answer me," he said dazed.

"I'm sorry," she answered tilting her head to the side. Her eyes flew open, a pair of green crystals staring back at him. She had no idea about what effect she was having on him right now as she lay on the bed.

It was taking nearly everything in him not to yelp. Robin looked beautiful lying there, her eyes shimmering from the sunlight that escaped through the curtained window. He was doing it again, getting all hot and heavy. Why did she have such an affect on him? No one else ever made him feel this way. 'You do love her don't you?'

Amon's attention snapped from Robin to the small box sitting at the head of the bed. It had already been opened from what he could see. He wondered if Robin had ordered something without telling him, but knowing how little she asked for, it probably wasn't anything she ordered.

"What's in that box?" he asked curiously.

Robin sat herself up on the bed, turning so that she could easily grasp the box. She pulled the box into her lap, smiling as she flipped it open. "Come take a look." As Amon made his way over to the bed, she scoot herself over to allow him room to sit.

He sat down next to her, staring into the box. It was hard to believe the kinds of toys he was seeing inside. They were all high priced toys, none of which he'd ever seen in stores. "Who sent all this?" he asked, picking up a blue and yellow pastel rattle from out of the box.

"I don't know. Oh, there's a letter that came with it," she said, quickly getting to her feet and running out the door.

Amon sat patiently, waiting for her to come back with the letter, but it was taking her far _too _long. He was about to get up to check on her, when she came back into the room, holding an envelope. Apparently she'd already read the card inside, seeing as the envelope had been torn open. She seemed confused as she handed the envelope over to Amon.

"Who's it from?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered, sitting back on the bed next to him. "Whoever sent the package, won't give any signs as to who they are. Who do you think sent all this?" she asked curiously. She could see that telling by the look on his face as he read, he didn't seem to know.

Looks could be deceiving, at least in Amon's case. As he read through the card a third time, he started to suspect who had sent the package. It wasn't that hard to figure out, at least for him. He sighed and stuck the letter back into the envelope. "I'm not sure. Maybe they don't want to be known."

They finally managed to sit and eat lunch, a little after sunset. Seeing as Robin didn't want to give Amon a cold meal, she went and reheated everything, much to Amon's protests. He kept claiming that _anything_ was fine with him, but she wouldn't hear of it. Sitting down together at the kitchen table, both ate quietly, listening to the booming thunder outside. Robin was glad that they were inside. The weather had grown ferociously wicked as the sun began to fade from the sky.

As they finished up dinner, the lights began to flicker above them. Amon went looking for candles as Robin cleared the table, another habit she managed to pick up while there. She couldn't help but clean up after Amon. Robin never realized how much she acted like a true housewife.

"I could only find three candles," he said, sitting them out on the coffee table. Amon asked Robin to light one of the candles for him, but eventually all three were lit, after Robin nearly tripped heading towards the couch.

For a while, they sat staring at the candles, the flames licking the air, the hot wax hissing as it slipped down the candle and hit the metal holder. Neither breathed a word to the other, nor did they move for quite a while. In two days Amon would start back at the STN-J, his first day back to normality. Robin thought of this as nothing, seeing as he was usually gone during the day. What would make this any different?

Amon on the other hand, was starting to questions whether he _really _wanted to return to work. It wasn't like they needed the money nor did he need something to keep him occupied. He kept himself busy by doing research on the Démos and on Nagira, which wasn't looking good. It was hard finding any information on the accident.

The thunder outside hadn't stopped since dinner and was continuing to fill the night sky, but that wasn't keeping Amon from growing weary. He was feeling tired again. For nights he laid awake on the couch, listening for anyone that might try to enter the apartment. It was silly to think that someone would break in at any moment, but Amon couldn't help but feel that way. There were still Factory workers out there, looking for them, not to mention Zaizen had gone missing from the hospital.

He let in to the sheer exhaustion that was taking over him, his head lolling to the side as he closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered seeing before he fell to sleep, was one of the candles going out, followed by the shortest candle of the three. His breath slowed as he fell into a slumber, leaving Robin to sit by herself, waiting for the storm to end.

Construction Site-

Even with the gruesome storm that had generated during the course of the night, workers continued to work on the tall building that was quickly forming near the park. Across from the building was an newly built apartment complex, one that Zaizen found himself staying in each night. He sat at the window, watching as his new base was being built. No one knew it was his building, what purpose it would have.

Sitting next to him, was Touko, staring out into the night sky. Unlike her father, she was thinking of Amon and Robin. Her trip to see him, she suppose it was just closure or something there of it. It had taken her quite a while to get over the scene she'd witnessed back at his apartment, but she soon accepted it. Back in America, she had someone waiting for her, someone that truly loved her. She'd be happy, but what about Robin? Though Amon wouldn't admit it, she could see that he cared for Robin, even loved her. He would never admit it, she was sure of that, but did he not realize how much that probably hurt Robin? 'It's hard to be happy when seeing that Robin isn't,' she thought sadly.

"Is something wrong?" asked Zaizen, his voice still hoarse and scratchy.

Touko shook her head slowly, "no, nothing's wrong."

His bandaged fingers tapped the arm of his wheelchair in frustration. "Something _is _wrong, I can tell. Where did you run off to today? Daijiro told me that you left the airport immediately after landing. Why didn't you wait for your ride? Did you go looking for _him_?" he asked irritated.

"No." She didn't enjoy lying to her father, but she couldn't very well tell him she'd gone to see Amon.

"Then where did you go?"

"To see mother's grave. Is something wrong with that?" she asked.

"No—no of course not." He shifted around in the wheelchair, grunting as he felt sharp pains throughout his body. The burns on his body caused him much pain, mentally and physically. Never would he be the same man that he use to be, but that didn't stop him from continuing his work.

"Do you need me to get Daijiro?" asked Touko worried.

He shook his head, waving one bandaged finger, signifying for her to stay. "I don't need Daijiro. He doesn't have what I need," he said bitterly.

"What do you need?" she asked curiously.

Zaizen's eyes drifted towards his daughter, who had one had against his shoulder. He didn't know how she'd react to his answer, but at this point he really didn't care. "What do I need? I need the person that did this to me. The person that has put me through hell. All I need. . .is Robin."

Amon's Apartment-

The morning sun had finally risen into the calm blue sky of the early morning. Outside birds were chirping as they passed the sleepy apartment complex. Cars lined the street as people scurried off to work and children hurried to school. None of the outside world seemed to affect the two sleeping in the last apartment in the building. Inside Amon's apartment, everything was peaceful and still. On the right side of the couch, leaning against the arm, was Amon. He had slept all during the night, not once waking.

It wasn't until Amon awoke, that he realized he wasn't alone on the couch. Leaning against him was Robin, fast asleep against his shoulder. He was a bit perplexed at first when he saw Robin laying against him, but he quickly got over it. Not wanting to awake her, he sat there, staring at the three candles sitting on the coffee table. The tallest candle was still lit, lasting all through the night.

He was a bit surprised that he'd managed to sleep all night, something that rarely happened. For the first time in ages, he'd dreamed—dreamed about something he hoped to forget. Bits and pieces were still playing in his mind, Amon trying his hardest to block them away. The dream was of his mother, of the day her powers were first revealed. A lot of that day was still hazy to Amon, but he could still remember a little of what happened.

His father had always been rather wealthy, which allowed him to take care of two families. Amon never met his father, but he'd seen many pictures of him. The wealth his father carried caused him quite a lot of trouble and eventually he began to lose it all. Nagira had surely picked up his gambling habits from their father, who had died because of the debts he owed. He'd made deals with people, whom he never intended on paying back. Their father ran off, leaving his families to fend for themselves.

A few days after his father's departure, Amon had been walking home from the park with his mother. They were heading home, carrying bags of items to decorate the house. It was Christmas time, a time Amon use to love more than any other time of the year. Christmas was always the time when Amon's mother would take off from work and spend an entire week with him. Except that Christmas, turned out to be the worst he'd ever experienced. A very small Amon spent Christmas with complete strangers, because of his mother.

That night, men that had known his father came to his mother, asking where Mr. Syunji had gone. Seeing as the man never bothered to visit Amon, he nor his mother knew where the runaway had gone. Those men, not believing a word coming from his mother's mouth, threatened to harm both of them if she didn't admit where he'd gone off to. Amon's mother pleaded with them, reiterating that she had no idea where her ex-husband had gone off to. Unfortunately the men wouldn't reason with her, and tried to come after both of them.

'It was because of him,' his mind hissed. His mother, in fear of what would happen to them both, killed the men right on the spot. Amon didn't have time to see how his mother had done it, but when he looked down at the pavement, four large men lay in bloody heaps.

The next thing he remembered was his mother, bundling him into her arms as she took off down the stree. Headlights appeared behind them, his mother coming to an abrupt halt as the sound of many guns loading could be heard around them. He remembered his mother yelling as men surrounded them both, one of them pulling Amon from his mother's arms. Someone took Amon by the hand, walking him away from his mother, his eyes glued to her as the dragged her into the black van.

From that moment on, he spent most of his time with Zaizen and his family. He was taken away from his mother at only six years old and only one year later, he was off to Europe, being trained as a SOLOMON agent. Amon remembered being proud that he'd be part of SOLOMON and a new member of the STN-J. Again, he'd be with the man that had raised him since his mother's capture.

Amon felt Robin shift, her chestnut hair tickling at his bare arm. He watched as she groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It must have taken her a while to realize where she was, for she hadn't made a big deal about sleeping next to Amon until she made eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep last night after the storm stopped," she said lowering her head. She was trying her best to hide the embarrassment that was consuming her. Never had she actually slept next to _anyone_, sitting there next to him was beginning to feel quite awkward.

"I must have done the same." Amon got to his feet, stretching out his stiff limbs as Robin let out the remaining candle. He threw a hand over his mouth as he gave a long yawn, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Shaking off the weariness he still felt, Amon headed towards his room, quickly shutting the door behind him.

Though she was quite embarrassed about falling asleep on the couch with Amon, she was quite glad that she'd slept during the night. She hadn't told him, but for the past few nights, her mind had been plagued by nightmares. Each time she'd awaken startled, unable to go back to sleep for the night. That's why she found herself sleeping late in the mornings, after he'd get up and about.

Robin was just heading towards the kitchen when a knock came from the door. She had no idea who would be visiting at such an early hour, but she hoped it _wasn't _Touko again. Not making the same mistake she did last time, Robin looked out the peephole, seeing Haze's smiling face staring back.

"Let me in!" she called from outside the door.

She had nearly been hit by the door as she undid the lock and Haze threw the door open. This morning she was unusually happy, something you _never _saw with Haze. In one arm she held a box of folders, the same folders she'd seen Amon going through the few weeks before. 'Amon's work files I presume,' Robin thought to herself.

"You look happy," said Robin with a smile.

Haze sat the box down on the coffee table, grunting as she straightened herself back up. She smoothed out her dress as she turned around to face Robin, her face hanging downward. "Well. . .I have a right to be." Her eyes rose up to meet the chestnut-haired witch's. "Michael and I are going out on a date!"

"What?" Robin said amazed. "A date? That's good news. Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"I dunno, we haven't worked that out yet. Oh, don't tell anyone we're dating. Well. . .besides Amon, but it's not like he'd care anyway. You know the policy against dating coworkers, which sucks by the way," she sighed.

"Hmm, I suppose it does. When are you two going out?"

"Tomorrow night I think. Like I said, we're still working everything out. Maybe you should get Amon to take you out too," she teased, waving her hand playfully at Robin. "You haven't been out of this apartment in _ages_."

Robin's smile faltered as she began to think about Amon. "I couldn't ask him, he's already done so much. Plus I don't think a night out with me would be all that nice," she said with a embarrassed smile. "Amon has better things to do, better people he could take."

Haze lifted an eyebrow, staring at Robin dumbfounded. "Better people he could take? But you're carrying his child. I highly doubt he has anyone better to take than you. Don't put yourself down like that."

She wanted to tell her friend why she felt that way, why she had little faith in her herself. It wasn't like her to be wallowing in her own self-pity, but she constantly found herself doing so. Ever since the letter from Touko came, she'd been like this, wondering if she would ever be good enough for Amon.

"He could take out Touko," she said with a bitter smile.

"Touko? You mean Zaizen's daughter? I thought he wasn't interested in her anymore?" she asked inquisitively.

"I thought the same." Robin sat down on the couch, sighing as she laced her fingers together. "She showed up yesterday, wanting to talk to Amon. The entire time she was here, I kept wondering what was going to happen when Amon saw her, if old feelings would arise. Eventually I left the room so that they could talk, but the real reason I left was because I felt like I was hyperventilating."

"Because of how you feel about Amon?" She frowned when she watched Robin nod. "Well, you need to talk to him Robin. You two are so stubborn. Is he still sleeping on the couch each night?"

"Yes, but last night we both slept on the couch. We were sitting in here during the storm and eventually we both fell asleep. He woke up and took off towards his room. He's been in there quite a while, probably changing."

Haze grinned mischievously as she the thought of the two sleeping together on the couch entered her mind. 'Hmm. . .well at least that's a new step towards getting them closer,' her mind laughed. She could clearly see Robin was quite embarrassed about the previous night's sleeping situation.

"Well, I think it's quite sweet if I may say so myself."

"Only you would say that."

"Anyway, I need to talk to Amon about something. You're telephone's been off for the last two days. I've been trying to call him and even tried his cell, but to no prevail." Haze didn't even need Robin to respond. It was plain to see that she was the one that had shut off the phone. "Trying to catch sleep again I see? I'm sure Amon wasn't happy."

"Happy about what?" asked Amon, stepping into the livingroom. He was dressed in a short sleeved black t-shirt and black jeans. It didn't seem like something he'd normally wear, but he needed to do laundry. Unfortunately he hadn't bothered to do it the previous week, nor had he asked Robin to attempt it.

"Nothing—nothing at all," said Haze with a smile. "I'm glad to see you finally came out of your room. How long does it take you to throw a shirt on?"

"What do you want?" Amon's tone showed how irrate he was becoming because of her arrival.

Haze eyed him and shook her head. "No need to be rude Amon. I'm here to talk to you about something. Is that alright or should I have not bothered coming at all?"

Robin looked between the two of them, wondering what they possibly had to talk about. It seemed like Haze didn't want her around for the discussion, which she didn't understand. Haze normally didn't mind if she was around when they talked. Were they going to talk about her?

"I'll work on breakfast," she said with a smile, stepping out of the livingroom. She noticed as she left, Amon seemed a bit perplexed. Undoubtedly he knew why she had left.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" he asked coldly.

"My my Amon, you're in a bad mood this morning." She folded her arms against her chest, her eyes settled on the stiff figure in front of her. "I think you know what this is about. You're still sleeping on the couch? Why don't you start acting like a married man?" she asked playfully, grinning as she looked him over.

Amon frowned in annoyance. "If that's all you came here to say, your trip is wasted."

"Oh, I don't think my trip is wasted. That's not all I wanted to talk to you about. This is about Robin and the Factory. Last night I received a phone call from a source about Jaden. Seems he was seen in this area about one week ago. I thought he would quit the hunt against you both, but he seems to still be searching. Jonathan doesn't know what he could possibly still want with either of you. Do you have any idea?"

"No, but what makes you think he's still looking for us?" he asked curiously.

"Well, if he had stopped searching, he wouldn't be hiding himself from all of us now, would he?" She sighed, reaching into her coat pocket to pull out a small piece of paper. "I received this last night as well. It's about Nagira," she said sadly.

"Nagira?" Amon said shocked, grabbing the paper from her.

"The information on that little piece of paper isn't good. My informant, one of Jaden's cronies, told me that he has not seen Nagira. Supposedly, Jaden told him as well as the other men in his group, that Nagira died. I don't know if that's true, but he told me that Jaden seemed serious." She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip.

"If he is dead, he's lucky," Amon said in an emotionless tone, handing the paper back to Haze. The paper was a note, written by Haze's informant. Not only had no one seen Nagira, but many of Jaden's men were still missing, none of which were found in the wreck.

"I also have some information about the testing done on you. Unfortunately it́s not good news either."

Amon felt his stomach lurch, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He'd been waiting for news, any kind of news about what had happened to him. It was just that he hadn't really wanted to hear bad news. 'I think I preferred no news as good news,' he though drearily.

"Your healing powers as you know are not the only ones you bare. As of now none of us know what your true powers are, but we do know that whatever they are, they're not good. Michael has been helping me do research and we've found quite a bit of information. Those hidden powers of yours, weren't built into you. It doesn't quite work that way. Instead, they were merely amplified, I guess you'd say."

"So what are you saying? I inherited them? The only witch in my family was my mother."

"Or so you thought," she said, pulling out her cell phone. "Through research, we discovered someone else in your family had the witch gene. Your father's great-grandmother was a witch. Meaning the gene ran through his bloodline, but laid dormant within him. He was a seed, not just a mere human." She flipped the phone open and handed it to Amon.

On the screen sat a picture of the man he'd always hated, the man that caused his mother's powers to be revealed. He wasn't sure how to respond to this news, whether to be angry, shocked, or afraid. 'Witch's from both sides? Is this what makes me a Démos?'

"And we also found some information on his death," she said sadly.

"I know about his death," he said, snapping the phone shut. "He died because of his greed."

"We found a photo of one of the men that was involved in his killing. He's supposedly alive, but no one has seen him in quite a few years. Waru Sagara is his real name or at least we think it is, but he now goes by the name Daijiro Onigawa. No family nor any substantially useful information on him unfortunately."

"Daijiro Onigawa. . .why is that name familiar?" he said to himself.

"I've been saying the same thing," Haze said, laying her chin into the palm of her hand. "We could find no photos of the man, nor past medical records. Even if you saw him today, I doubt you'd recognize him, not just because of old age. You were quite young when he went after. . ." she paused as she looked up at the man. He was glaring at her sternly, his eyes telling her to say no more.

"I probably wouldn't recognize him." Amon stood up, walking over towards the front door. He stopped midways, his hands balled into fists, hanging by his sides. No longer was he thinking about this man that had killed his father, but his cluttered thoughts were towards the hidden powers within him. The fear that had once swept through him, long ago when he was still a seed, had quickly returned.

Amon had known he had other powers, but he had come to the realization that the powers that were concealed inside of him, were inherited from one of his parents. He remembered the day his mother revealed herself in front of him, the day the signs of the craft made themselves visible for all eyes to see. Much of it was still hazy to him, but he remembered this great force filling the air, nearly knocking the very breath out of his small body. Deep inside, Amon feared that power that he felt emitting from her that day, was the power laying inside of him. _A deadly power._

Would he end up like his mother? His powers growing out of control and nearly killing the ones he loved? 'No!' his brain yelled. 'You will _not _turn out like her. Unlike her, you are strong.' Was he now believing that his own mother had been weak? 'Remember, it is _his _fault that her powers were uncovered. He is the reason she was hunted. Never forget that.'

"Why do you worry about these powers so much?"

Amon turned his head towards Haze, his gaze remaining on the floor below him. "You don't understand, nor will you ever." His voice was more wary than angry. "I think you should be going," he said, his hand motioning towards the front door.

Haze nodded and sighed, straightening out the wrinkles that had formed on her dress as she stood. She could tell her question nerved the man and he no longer wanted her here. Normally she'd just tease him about being 'sensitive', but she felt this wasn't the time nor place to do so. It wasn't like Amon to not get angry.

"I suppose you're right, but before I go." She paused, staring over at the kitchen doorway. "There's something I need to talk to you about. It's about your little visit from Touko yesterday."

A numbing pain had formed in the back of Amon's head as he heard his ex's name. Somehow he'd completely blocked out yesterday's little rendezvous from his mind until now. He wondered how Haze knew about the visit, but he suspected Robin had told her. 'She doesn't seem to keep _anything _from her,' Amon thought wearily. "What about it?"

"You know, her visit may have seemed like it was all in good intentions, but be wary of her Amon. She is Zaizen's daughter and she may be doing work for him now." The same nerved look she'd received from him earlier, had quickly come back. He seemed almost offended.

"I doubt she would have anything to do with her father."

"Does she know about you and Robin?" she asked eyeing him.

"If you mean the fake marriage and child, then yes she does." He inwardly winced as the words he had just mouthed entered his ears. Did he really sound _that _harsh?

"Yes, but I also mean about you two. . .you know," she held up both hands, her thumbs and index fingers coming together to form the shape of a heart.

"We're not," he said plainly, walking over towards the front door. As he pulled it open, he heard Haze scoff impatiently.

"What? You're still in love with Touko or something?" she said, one eyebrow arched above the other.

He wished she didn't have to start this early in the day. For a while, Amon had gotten use to Haze's prying into his personal life and teasing him. Today just wasn't a day he felt like hearing this. Long ago, he made up his mind to never become emotionally attached to anything, but after being with Robin, it was hard to feel that way. The only thing he could do was try to keep to himself, keep from getting close to her. _Keep from hurting her_.

"Leave."

"Then you _do_love Robin?" she teased.

Amon wished he could have bitten his tongue, keeping from saying a word to the woman. If he had been aware at the time that Robin was near the kitchen door, he wouldn't have said a word. Instead, he gave the answer that he had given to Haze so many times before. This time, his answer was colder, more harsh than ever before.

For once, Haze seemed to take his answer to heart. It was believable, his voice, his body movements, his eyes, they all said the same as his words. She felt a sudden chill go down her spine as she looked into his cold, gray eyes. Amon wasn't lying to her, at least that's what she believed.

"You've done more for her than most people have. That says something there." She wanted to know that he at least cared and for everything he'd done for her so far, he just had to care about her.

"It's because of the child," he said coldly.

"Or are your feelings the result of what nearly happened the day you learned about her pregnancy?"

'How does she know about that?' his mind questioned.

"Nagira told me about it when we went looking for you two; actually he told me a lot of things. Is this all because of what you nearly did to both of them that night?" Haze had suspected that _that_ night was the cause of his turmoil, his wanting to be as far away from Robin as possible.

His answer had turned into a sharp growl, one that made it clear to anyone around that he meant what he said. He hadn't meant to be loud, for Robin to hear what he had said, but unfortunately he couldn't take back what he said, even if it was a lie. "It is _not _because I tried to kill them!"

A sudden crash came from the kitchen, startling both of them. They both ran towards the kitchen, Amon totally ignoring the fact that he'd left the front door wide open. Robin was just kneeling onto the linoleum floor, picking up broken shards of glass. She seemed distraught which Haze assumed was because of Amon.

"What happened?" Amon asked.

Robin's face was pointed towards the floor, her eyes hidden by stray chestnut locks that bounced across her forehead as she reached for the glass. "I dropped some dishes," she said, her voice emotionless. She picked up a large piece of a sake glass that had shattered and sat it into a little basket, the glass clanking as it made contact with other pieces. "Everything's fine, you can go back into the livingroom."

Amon was going to protest, but felt Haze tug on the sleeve of his shirt. He flinched from her touch, pulling away from her and heading out of the room. She took one look down at Robin and sighed, starting to kneel down to help. Haze stopped halfway when Robin spoke up.

"No, I don't need any help," she said coldly.

Haze was taken aback by Robin's sudden attitude. She had never spoken like that before, for as long as she could remember. Robin had never been one to have that tone of voice before and it wasn't befitting of her. Nodding, Haze retreated from the kitchen, her mind numb in confusion.

She stepped through the front door, turning around just before Amon could shut the door on her. "Robin's acting strange. I'll call back in a little while to check on her." Haze paused as she thought about Robin. "Do you think she heard us talking?"

"I don't know," he answered.

Sighing, she waved goodbye to him and set off towards the elevator. She had this unsettling feeling in her chest, one that seemed to grow even tighter with each step she took. Something didn't feel right and she knew this feeling was about Robin.

Amon turned around after shutting the front door, heading towards the hallway, not expecting to see Robin standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She stood there, her eyes red and swollen. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked upon her. The sadness, disappointment, hurt, all of the emotions that danced in her green orbs, were more striking than he'd ever witnessed before. Tears were threatening to pour down her pale cheeks, she was fighting the demons within her, keeping herself from collapsing into a rumple of tears in front of him.

He wanted to say something, anything to her. Now he knew for sure that she'd heard him and this was definitely not one of his proudest moments. This little lie he'd been saying for so long, was now hurting her. Amon had never straight told her that he didn't love her, more like keep her guessing. The only thing he managed to say to her was not even a complete sentence. "Robin I. . ."

Robin moved past him, not bothering to apologize when her shoulder popped against his arm. He knew he deserved that and decided against fighting about it. Amon assumed she was heading towards the couch, wanting to sit there and pout or something, but to his dismay, he heard the front door slam shut.

Amon ran out of the apartment in a frenzy, mentally cursing Robin for just walking off like that. Did she not realize that there was still trouble about? He realized that he shouldn't be mad at Robin, but at himself. If he had just spoken the truth or not answered at all, she wouldn't have walked off.

Feverishly making his way to the elevator and slamming his fists against the buttons, Amon tried desperately to get the door to open. After a few seconds, the door flew open, Robin no where in sight. A door that lead to the staircase sat to his right, Amon throwing himself towards it.

Fear was now overtaking him, Amon worried that Robin, in her fit of anger and sadness, fell down the stairs. If anything happened to her or the baby, he'd never forgive himself. 'How can you keep lying like this?' he thought bitterly to himself as his feet pounded on the steps.

He searched high and low for nearly two hours, never catching sight of Robin. She was long gone, neither knowing where she could have ran off to. After searching for one hour, Amon called Harry's, asking if anyone had mentioned seeing her. Unfortunately after calling three different places, including the STN-J, no one had seen her. Robin had disappeared and no one knew where she was and if she was safe. This news, left Amon sick.

The rain had begun to beat down against the city, clouds covering every inch of the sky, hiding the setting sun. Thunder boomed in the distance, lightning cracked through skies, coming closer and closer to the ground below. Amon stood there silently, raindrops bouncing off of his still body. He watched the road in front of him, as passer goers suddenly vanished. Everything grew quiet and still. There was nothing, nothing there any longer. No Robin, no anything. It was as if his world had just ended. Knowing she was gone, his world had suddenly stopped.

The day quickly turned into night, the sun fading off into the distance, being replaced by the vibrant moon. It felt like Robin's life would be like this forever, a life of disappointment, a life of lies. How did she expect Amon to feel? What had she been telling herself for so long? Of course Amon didn't care about her, she had just made herself believe that he did. Robin slumped down against the wall in a dark alleyway. There she was, standing within the place where she first met Methuselah, where she discovered what she truly was, _a witch_. She'd been standing there for quite a while, watching passer byers chat amongst themselves.

'You have to do this on your own now,' her mind berated. 'It's all up to you now.' She didn't know why she was here, of all the places to be in the city. This wasn't the safest place to be in the city, but considering that she was the strongest witch in existance, she shouldn't be worried. Any witches that dared challenge her now were in a world of trouble.

Raindrops popped against her body, wetting her already soaked clothing. Her hair, a wetted mass of tassels, hung below her shoulders. The cold and rain, had made her skin appear an icy blue, a color not suiting for her. She could see her breath, small white puffs of air, as she exhaled into the night sky. 'It's getting colder.'

Near a cardboard box sat two little girls, both warming their little bare hands over a homemade fire of small twigs and newspaper. Both would glance over at Robin every few minutes, whispering to one another. Robin wondered where their parents were, or more appropriately, did they have parents at all? Her question was answered, once an older woman walked past her, approaching the two. The girls grinned and got to their feet, running towards the woman.

A deadening feeling set over her as she watched the scene. 'What if that becomes you?' she thought bitterly. 'You have no where to go. Do you want your child living in an alleyway?' She couldn't go running back to Amon, what was the point? He didn't care, but why did that bother her so much? Wasn't that to be expected from someone as him? Someone that had treated her like trash the first time she'd met him?

"Wondering if you want to spend your life like this?" asked a cold, familiar voice.

Robin turned to see the one she'd hoped to not see, someone she had been warned that still hunted for her. Standing next to her, smiling at her maliciously, was Jaden. She gasped, crawling back from him, trying to get herself as far from him as possible. Unfortunately she did not make it far, before Jaden slammed one of his leather boots down on the girl's hand.She yelped out, wincing from the spasms of pain that ran through her crushed hand. As the pressure was lessened, she felt cold fingers coiling around her locks, Jaden pulling her up to her feet. Her eyes were now at eye level to his, his eyes flaring with what she believed was satisfaction.

"Hello there little lovely," he grinned. He stroked a strand of her chestnut hair with his other hand, receiving a deadly glare from the girl. "Tsk tsk, don't look so angry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Jaden pinned her against the wall, his mouth resting right next to her ear.

Robin could feel his breath against her. Chills went down her spine, her breath quickened. If she had her glasses with her, she could easily take him out right then and there. Unfortunately, trying to aim at him in her current predicament could risk her burning anyone around them or even herself.

"What do you want?" she gasped.

Jaden chuckled, tightening his grip on her arms, which were now held down against the wall. He nudged a strand of her hair with his nose, sighing as he took in the sweet scent of her hair. "Hmm. . .not to worry lovely, it isn't you I want. You see, over these last two months, I've learned some incredible news about your lover. Seems there's a lot more to him than I previously thought."

"And what would that be?"

He smirked, thrusting her harder against the wall. "Long ago, my only intentions were to turn you into SOLOMON, to save others like us. Yet, I learned something, something _quite _unexpected after our little meeting that day at the mansion. You see my dear, Amon is what I want now. I am no longer interested in you or your child."

"Why Amon?" she asked shocked.

"He took something away from me and I want my revenge," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Robin could feel every crease and crack in the wall pressing against her. She feared that if Jaden pressed her any harder against the wall, it would harm the baby. 'I have to get away from him,' she thought to herself.

"Why?"

"Don't concern yourself with 'why' love. Just worry about answering my questions. Because if you don't. . ." His grip on Robin tightened even more, a smile coming to his face as he heard a small yelp escape from her. "I will kill you and your unborn child. Where is he?" he asked sternly.

She shook her head, hoping he would accept her answer. In all honesty she didn't know where he was at the moment. He could be back at his apartment, out looking for her in the city, or possibly with Touko. _Touko. _Was she going to worry about Touko at a time like this? "I don't know!" she gasped painfully.

Jaden's grip tightened, but instead of pressing her against the wall, he threw her against the ground. His frustration was starting to grow. "You are lying. I don't accept lies love," he spat, kicking her in the side. He hadn't anticipated Robin's attack, a ball of flames, popping him in the shoulder.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said, glaring at her evilly.

She managed to catch the sleeve of his jacked aflame, giving herself enough time to run off. Not knowing where she was going, Robin went running down the street, glancing around for any place she could hide from Jaden. It felt like the world had closed itself off from her. There was nowhere for her to go, except for one place she thought of as she crossed through the park.

Robin ran as fast as she could, her heart racing as she heard Jaden's baited breath getting closer. She was getting closer to STN-J headquarters and she hoped none of her old friends were still there for the night. Somehow she had to get Jaden away, away from anyone he could harm. Mostly, she had to get him away from Amon.

STN-J Headquarters-

Michael paused at his computer as an alarm went off. Somewhere in the city, the craft was being used and it was getting closer to headquarters. He had a bad feeling, knowing Robin was somewhere out there. Haze had been out looking for her ever since she got a call from Amon. The other STN-J members, knew nothing about Robin's disappearance, nor did Haze wish to tell them.

The other members were still sitting around the office, waiting for their shift to end. Michael, as desperately as he wished not to, had to tell them about the witch activity. What if it wasn't Robin at all? 'The powers could belong to some radical witch out there, harming citizens,' his mind lectured.

He decided, against his gut feelings, to tell the others. Haze was just entering the office, looking weary and upset. The others didn't seem to take notice, they never seemed to notice anything about Haze, besides the fact that she was spending a lot of time with Michael.

"I'm getting signs of the craft not too far from here. It could be Robin, but it may also be some witch attacking somebody," he said, pointing at the alert icon on his screen. The little red window was flashing on and off, a yellow exclamation point in the center. This was the new technology they had been given, they now had the ability to find the craft anywhere in the city. Michael thought the technology was quite unbelievable and at the same time, wondered how SOLOMON was able to make such a thing.

"Robin wouldn't be using her craft to its full extent, not in her condition. She's been told it's not best to use it. It's probably some rampant witch. Do you want me and the others to go check it out?" she asked, pulling a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I think you should. I still have a weird feeling about this."

Street-

Robin was just crossing the gate, when she saw Sakaki and Karasuma exiting the building. Her heart leaped up her throat as she realized this was the first time she'd seen them in months and she wished it wasn't under these circumstances. She felt a sudden shove from her backside her body flinging against the gate, the metal rattling from the impact.

"You think you're clever, don't you?" He reached down, gripping her by the collar of her dress, raising her up by her feet. "Well," he rotated the shoulder Robin had managed to burn earlier. "You're not." Jaden tossed her down on the ground, chuckling to himself.

'If I keep this up, I'll lose the baby for sure,' she thought, tears streaming down her face as she felt her body land on the cold sidewalk. She wanted to fight back more, but without her glasses her flames wouldn't cause much damage. Robin kept trying, even though most of her attacks barely touched him.

STN-J Headquarters-

Sakaki and Karasuma had just stepped out of the building, when a large clanging sound filled the night air. Karasuma was the first to look towards the gates, her eyes squinting as she tried to make at the form that stood behind the iron bars. Standing there was a man, grinning as he watched a battered form slide down to the sidewalk. It took her only a second to realize that the person on the sidewalk, was Robin.

"Robin?" she said thunderstruck and in horror. She shot towards the gate, the others soon following. Before any of them made it there, both Robin and the man had taken off again. Karasuma wasn't sure what was going on or who that man was. As she and the others chased the pair down the street, she remembered seeing the man's face once before. It was the man she'd seen in Amon's thoughts those many months ago.

To her left, Robin saw an entrance to an alleyway, one she'd been down before when on a hunt. She went zooming down it, the muscles in her chest tightening as she tried desperately to breath. With each breath, it felt as if her lungs were being crushed by the air coming inside of them. The muscles in her legs were tightening, becoming heavy with each step she took. It was obvious to her that at any moment, her body would give out on her. There would be nowhere for her to go.

She was only a few feet from a gap that was in the wall, when Jaden shoved into her again. Desperate, she crawled as far away as she could, flipping onto her back to face him. Her attacks, smaller each time she sent them, were doing nothing to him. He laughed with each ball of fire that narrowly missed him.

"Don't you see? Your attacks are useless against me. Why don't you just give up before I kill you both, which would be _quite _unfortunate. I've taken quite a liking to you."

"Well, I haven't taken a liking to you!" Robin spat, sending a rather large gulf of flames towards the man. It appeared that he hadn't expected the attack, for the flames popped against his face. She inwardly smiled as the flames licked at his now scorched skin.

Nearly shaking, Jaden held his hands against his face, yelling out as the pain surged through his jaw. He was trying his best not to fall back, as the flames had burned the scars that once appeared on his face. "How—how _dare _you. . ." he choked, trying to stroke his cheek.

Robin struggled to get to her feet, her legs shaking as she managed to pull herself up. She had her back to the wall, her eyes locked on Jaden's fidgety form. The anger and hatred coming from him was more than anything she had ever witnessed. With every breath he took, it was as if flames were shooting from his lips. His eyes were filled with flames, flames that hungered for death.

"You stay away from her!" shouted Haze, her gun trained on Jaden's backside, her face riddled with anger.

Jaden slowly turned his head towards the raven-haired hunter, sneering as his eyes glazed over her face. He hadn't forgotten her little betrayal, the lies she had told him. Nor had he forgotten the bullet she placed in his chest. A scar still sat there, reminding him of how there were little people to trust in this world.

"Hmm. . .still friends with her I see? I thought you were lying to her as well. It seems all you know how to do is lie."

"Still fuming over that little hole I put in your chest, Jaden? Very temperamental boy aren't you?" she said with a smirk.

Jaden huffed angrily, pulling down the neck of his jacket. There in plain sight to all, was a round scar. "Just another one for my trophy collection, isn't that right? I bet you wished you'd hit me in the right spot. Too bad you didn't. You're lovely friend wouldn't have to suffer because of it."

"What's going on here?" said Doujima confused. The others were standing alongside her, the same expression as she on their faces.

"What do you want with Robin? I thought your hunt for her was over, now the SOLOMON has stopped the hunt?" Haze was totally ignoring Doujima's question. There wasn't time to explain the situation.

"I'm not interested in _Robin_. She doesn't matter to me at all anymore, nor her child. It is her supposed _husband _I want. The one I seek for. Our little lovely wouldn't tell me where to find the little bastard, so I thought maybe I'd force the answer out of her. Didn't seem to work, unfortunately."

"Child? Husband?" asked Karasuma, wondering if she had misheard the blonde witch.

"Why do you want him?" Haze asked, her eyebrow raising in confusion.

A vein in Jaden's left temple twitched in annoyance as he glared at Haze. He didn't seem to enjoy the fact that she was stalling his search. It appeared he couldn't finish his interrogation of Robin here. Before any of them had time to react, Jaden pulled out his gun, sending two Orbo bullets towards them. One bullet narrowly missed Karasuma's neck, whilst the other dug itself into Haze's shoulder.

Preoccupied by the bullets, neither hunters had noticed that Sakaki and Doujima were now in a shooting match with Jaden. He went rushing down the alleyway, stopping when he'd reached a dead end. Haze, even with her injury, began shooting at him. She cursed under her breath with each bullet that missed. Her vision had became blurry, the Orbo quickly taking effect.

"Too bad for you," said Jaden, his gun clicking as he loaded it, pointing the barrel towards her head.

"No, too bad for you," said a cold voice.

Jaden spun to his left, meeting a bullet to his chest. He hadn't enough time to see who had shot at him, but the voice told him enough. His body hit the ground, a grim smile coming to his face. Standing over him, there gun pointed at his head, was Amon.

"You think you've won, don't you?" he said sneering, blood quickly soaking his grey t-shirt. He whipped his Orbo gun towards Amon, shooting him in the leg. As Amon fell over, Jaden took off again, his body slumping.

Amon took off after Jaden, his left leg dragging behind him as he ran. The pain seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind. He only cared about stopping Jaden, keeping him away from Robin. Haze had called him, warning him of Jaden. Quickly he made his way down the alley, when Haze told them they were heading in that direction.

Jaden was only a few feet from where Robin once lay. She nor any of the STN-J members were around, at least from what he could see. He stopped near the gap that lay in the wall, he could sense that someone was watching him. Unbeknownst to him, Robin was watching him from the gap. Robin had her eyes fixed on Jaden, concentrating her attack on him. If she didn't take him out now, he'd never be stopped.

Just as Amon was a few feet away from Jaden, the blonde witch's body was engulfed by bright, fluid streams of fire. He went running to the side, hollering out as the fire tore away at his skin. For a split second, it looked like Jaden was finally defeated, but to everyone's shock, the fire diminished as Jaden rolled around on the ground. Robin's concentration had broken as she felt herself grow weak. She leaned against the brick wall, trying to keep herself up.

"Robin?" Amon asked, worry evident in his voice.

"What in the hell is going on here?" asked Sakaki, sticking his gun back into its holster as he ran towards the group.

Amon's eyes grazed over Robin's weary form, her head turned away from him. He could see that she was still upset with him. Right then and there, he wanted to tell her the truth, how he truly felt. If telling her kept her from running off again, he'd do it.

". . .I lied," he whispered, his voice audible enough for Robin to hear.

She swiftly turned her head to look at him, tears threatening to slip down her cheeks. His voice was unusually soft, a tone she'd never heard him use before. For once she didn't have to force herself to smile, it naturally came to her. As sad as it was, it was enough to make Amon's spirits lighten.

"You—you'll all pay for—for this," choked Jaden, raising up his Orbo gun once more. No one, including Amon, had time to react before the gun went off. The Orbo bullet was heading straight for his chest. Amon felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw the head of the bullet coming towards him. Just as the bullet was about to hit him, he felt a sudden weight on him.

Everything suddenly became a blur, his comrades voices yelling out into the night. There was blood all over his clothes, he felt weak. As Amon looked down, he saw that the bullet had hit closer to his heart that he thought possible. Laying in his arms, her body slumping over, was Robin.

He felt sudden chills go through his spine as he felt her blood run through his fingers. When she had leapt in front of him, her back turned towards Jaden, he heard her whisper something to him. Amon hadn't realized what it was, until that moment. It was something that was now haunting his mind as he stood there.

_I'm sorry._

"Robin," he choked, his senses finally kicking back in. Haze was now beside him, frantic as she called out Robin's name. His eyes widened in shock and fear, he leaned down on one knee, lowering her to the ground. He reached for her hand, his shaking as he tried to feel for a pulse. The pulse, though quite faint, was there.

"Idiot," hissed Jaden, weakly getting to his feet. Even with his horrendous burns and with a shot to the chest, the healer was still moving.

If anyone had spoken a word to him after that moment, Amon surely couldn't have heard it. His ears were booming with the enraged beating of his heartbeat and the angry cursing going through his mind. Amon turned towards Jaden, his breath quickening with each breath that entered his lungs. He felt a great rage form inside of him. It was a rage like none he had ever felt in his life. An emotion that absorbed his entire body. That rage was slowly manifesting into something far worse. With every second he looked at Jaden, the rage grew greater. Suddenly Amon felt lightheaded and felt himself slip from consciousness, or so he thought.

**Sadly, that's the end of chapter 9. This chapter took a little longer to get out than I hoped, but I'd rewritten a lot of this particular chapter. I just didn't like where it was heading. There's something I'd like to add about Haze's character. A friend of mine told me that Haze's personality seemed to change a lot, one minutes she's a bad ass, the next she's a quirky 16 year old. Well. . .she's pretty much me. XD Eh, except that I'm 20. Most of the people around me could tell you I'm that way lol. I'm also known for my sarcasm. evil grin**

**This chapter is also late getting out because I've been busy taking care of my mom. She suffered from a series of strokes about two years ago and has to be cared for. So that's why this isn't getting updated as swiftly as one would hope. I'm sorry for the delay everyone:3**

**Poor Robin. . .and maybe poor Amon. . So he finally admit that he lied. . .and that happens! ToT So, erh. . .there was a lot of OOCness in this chapter. ;**

**Preview of next chapter:**

_Unwanted Power. . . . .Forgiveness._ . . . . ._Hell's Fury. . . ._


	10. Missing

Yes, I know it has been a _very _long time since I updated this fic. I'm so sorry for the delay everyone. After having writer's block for month's, I finally got my inspiration back (and perhaps my enthusiasm towards writing in general). This wasn't the only story that's been carelessly neglected during the past few months. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Also, I wanted to add that chapter's 1-9 will have some editing done to them. Nothing that conflicts with the storyline though. Just a few changes here and there, grammatically speaking. I'll have them up as soon as possible.

Chapter 10: Missing

**-Hospital-**

The morning sun was just starting to rise as the workers in the hospital began to work feverishly. It had been quite a hectic night, especially for Dr. Maya Hirogawa. During the early hours of the morning, she'd received a call about an injured witch and seeing as she was the only witch healer in the city, the old doctor had to come in. She was glad to do it, considering she knew the injured witch. Or should she say both of them.

She was standing next to a sleeping figure, who had just been placed in the room. The pen she was writing with scratched across the medical charts as she marked down the results off of many machines that surrounded the bed. This patient had been quite a handful, but nothing compared to the other that had come in.

Her gray hair, cut just above her shoulders, seemed to be the only bright thing in the room. A set of brown eyes skimmed down the paper, pausing every few seconds. "What a night," she said tiredly, clicking the pen and sticking it back into her pocket. She sat the medical records down on the table just as the figure began to wake.

"Good to see you're finally waking up Amon," she said with a wrinkled smile.

Amon groggily turned his head towards her, squinting as the sunlight that was escaping through the window blinds, stung at his eyes. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming or that he was quite possibly dead. He didn't know where he was, but he thought he may have been in the hospital. A beeping sound, the kind that one would hear from an IV, could be heard next to him.

"What happened?" he asked, raising a hand to his face. His rough hand rubbed across cheek as he tried to clear the weariness away. He couldn't remember what had happened, why he was here of all places. Then an ill feeling set over him, a feeling he'd felt before, right when Robin had been shot.

"Robin!" he choked, shooting up in bed.

Maya threw a hand down, trying to settle the man. "You mustn't get up now! Your injuries are too serious young man!" Try as she did, it didn't stop him from climbing out of bed. "Why must you be so hardheaded? Your body hasn't healed properly."

"I'm a healer," he grunted, getting onto his feet. His left leg, wrapped in bandages, gave away as he tried to stand, Amon catching the side of the chair, leaning against it for support. He winced from the pain that was surging throughout his tendons.

"The Orbo weakened your powers, so you're not healing as fast as one would hope."

Amon stared up at her, wondering how she could have possibly known about the Orbo. Surely Haze nor Robin would have _ever _mentioned it to her. It didn't seem like something she ought to know. "And how would you know about the Orbo?" he asked curiously.

"Well," she shooed him back onto the bed, frowning as he ignored her. "There are a lot of things I know about that you'd be surprised of. Now get back into bed." He had attempted to stand up again, this time making it. She tried to push him back down, but he pushed her away.

"I need to see Robin," he hissed, inching his way towards the closet.

"You can not go in your condition," she hissed back, running over to stop him.

He paused when he reached the closet, his head slowly turning towards the old woman. There was one question he wanted to ask her, but he was afraid of what her answer would be. "Is Robin alright?" he asked painfully, feeling his heart tug as he thought about the bullet that had injured her, the bullet that had been meant for him.

She closed her eyes, biting her lip as the extent of Amon's question sunk into her mind. "The bullet was deep, but I was able to remove it without any damage done to her internal organs. Besides the gunshot, she received a lot of cuts and bruises, but that's the worst of her injuries. If Haze hadn't gotten her here when she did, she could have died," said the old woman sadly.

Amon almost dreaded asking his next question. Just from hearing the extent of Robin's injuries, he was sure that the answer he'd receive was painful. "And what about the baby?" he asked, his voice shaky. He couldn't live with himself if something had happened to it. The dread he was feeling seemed even more severe as the old woman waited to answer his question.

"She nearly lost it," she said with a bitter smile.

"So, she didn't?"

"It's truly a miracle that she didn't. Anyone else in her condition would have lost it, but considering who and what she is, I guess she's able to stand more. Just to be sure there would be no genetic problems, we ran a few tests. Since Robin tested negative before she was even born, we hoped the same for the child."

"Tested?" Amon didn't have the faintest idea as to what sort of _test_ this woman was speaking of.

"It's a test that done to determine if a child will have any genetic deficiencies. Juliano sent me the records on Robin months ago and asked me to run the same test on the baby. Seeing as Robin's mother died of a genetic disorder, he wanted to make sure that the same didn't happen to his granddaughter. Luckily the test came out negative."

Though not apparent on the outside, Amon was relieved on the inside. They were both fine, he couldn't have asked for better news. Dread was still lingering within him, even knowing that Robin and the baby were fine. It was dawning on him though, what Maya had said. Robin and the baby had nearly died, because of the lie he had continued to tell. If he hadn't lied to her, she wouldn't have ran off and maybe Jaden would have never found her. For the first time in his life, he felt remorse for something he'd caused. Even when he'd killed his ex-hunting partner Kate, he'd never felt this way.

"Unfortunately because she nearly miscarried, Robin will have to take it easy. Someone will have to watch over her, which I guess you'll be doing, being her husband and all."

He slowly nodded, thinking about how this would cause him to postpone his work at the STN-J, though nothing was as important as taking care of Robin. Amon turned around, throwing the doors of the closet open. Sitting inside were a fresh pair of clothes, some Haze must have brought in from his apartment.

"You're wanting to see her?" asked Maya.

"I need to," he said, slipping a shirt off of the hanger.

Maya gave him a slight nod, smiling as she walked towards the door. "Well, I suppose you won't be coming back here, will you? I'll see if I can get you a pair of crutches to use. Just wait here until I get back." She closed the door behind her, walking off towards one of the nurse's stations.

Amon quickly slipped his clothes on, nearly landing in the floor when he tried to slip his pants on. The old woman had been right, his leg hadn't healed properly quite yet. It hadn't occurred to him until just then, but after Robin was shot he'd blacked out or so he had thought. He remembered looking at Jaden as he stood in front of him, giving him that insane, sickening smile he'd always had. Then everything went blank, nothing else had happened.

Haze and the others would surely know what had happened afterwards. It was like the first time he'd woken up in the hospital months ago. He had no recollection of the two weeks before and still he could only remember bits and pieces of it. Nothing was making sense to him, especially why Robin would so recklessly jump in front of him. Did she not realize what she was doing?

After retrieving Amon a pair of crutches, Maya and the dark-haired witch headed towards Robin's room. Inside of the waiting room, just outside of her room, sat the STN-J hunters, talking amongst themselves. It was Karasuma whom first noticed his arrival.

"Amon!" she gasped, jumping to her feet. Sakaki soon followed, nudging Doujima whom had managed to fall asleep as they waited in the sitting area.

"What on earth are you doing up! You should be resting," Haze scolded, throwing a hand on her hip.

Maya, whom had just been coming out of the elevator, squeezed past Amon and settled herself in the middle of the group. She gave Haze a soft smile, one that assured her that everything was fine. "I didn't want him out of bed, but he just protested against staying there. So I let in and decided to bring him down here."

"Are you sure that it's safe for him to see her?" asked Doujima, grimacing as she received cold stares from the others.

"Safe? What are you talking about?" Amon didn't understand what they meant by 'safe', but surely he was no threat to Robin.

"You don't remember?" asked Haze quite perplexed. She frowned as he shook his head. "Honestly, you don't remember any of it? That seems unbelievable, I mean you—" she looked around at the others. Haze was at a complete loss for words.

"What happened?" Amon's voice was stern, almost deadly.

No one seemed to want to say anything. All of them just stood there, their heads lowered, their eyes averted from Amon's deadly stare. Knowing how ugly things would get if no one answered him, Karasuma finally gave in.

"You killed Jaden," said Karasuma sadly.

He almost didn't believe her, until he saw the looks on his comrades faces. "I killed him? How could I have killed him? Didn't I black out?" This couldn't be true, could it? Had he possibly killed Jaden while unconscious? Or was he ever unconscious at all?

"No, you never blacked out, but we could see that you weren't all there." Haze was trying to remember the scene to its entirety, a scene that had happened all too quickly. "You took him with one swoop."

"But how?"

"It had to be your powers," said Maya, turning around to face the raven-haired witch on crutches. "Haze has told me a little about your family history. I think Robin's injuries led your powers to reveal themselves, but somehow you weren't fully controlling them."

"There have been cases of witches that had used the craft, but were never fully aware of it. They'd believe that they'd blacked out for quite some time, only to find out they hadn't. It has something to do with the severity of your craft. One that is too hard to handle leads the user to blackout. Your subconscious is still functional, which is why you are still able to move and act out, but you're not fully aware of it," said Haze.

"That made a lot of sense," Sakaki scoffed in a sarcastic tone.

"It's like he as two personalities. The craft takes a mind of its own," lectured Doujima. "Was that so hard to understand?"

Amon felt his limbs begin to shake, a knot forming in his throat. It was as he feared all along, his powers, the ones he knew were most dangerous, had finally arisen. He was beginning to remember when his mother's craft had awaken, how those men had been lying in puddles of their own blood. Had Jaden ended up that way? His powers, as deadly as they were, became even more deadly in his mind. The Orbo bullet that had been lodged into his leg, didn't stop those powers. Those powers were what nearly caused him to kill Robin and the baby the night he'd found out about the pregnancy.

Everyone just stood there, looking at Amon pitifully. He wasn't looking at any of them, more like focusing on every crack and crease in the floor tiling. So many thoughts were going through his head, so many fears were resurfacing within his body. It was finally happening, the one thing he never wanted, the one thing he would never be able to control. Now he was his own worst fear. As much as he'd like to, Amon wanted to run, get as far away from everyone as possible. Yet in his condition, that just wasn't possible.

"If you'd like, you can go see Robin," said Maya, tilting her head towards a closed door, which lead to Robin's room. "Everyone else, why don't you all go down for a break. I'm sure there's fresh coffee in the cafeteria." Laying a hand on Haze's shoulder, she ushered her out of the hall, along with the other STN-J members.

Amon watched as the group exited through the doors, before slowly making his way into Robin's hospital room. He didn't know what to expect when he went inside, to see the condition she was in. It pained him to think that she had taken the bullet, that she had risked her own life _and _the child's, just for him.

Much to his surprise, she wasn't some bloody mess, nor did she look like someone on the verge of death. On the contrary, she looked quite peaceful lying there in the bed, her chestnut hair laying against her shoulders. Even with the cuts and bruises on her face, he thought she looked absolutely beautiful. In his mind, he kept seeing her pain filled face as she leapt in front of him, her words still haunting him. He'd begun to think that he'd imagined those words, but he knew she had very well spoken them. Robin, though knowing the risk she was taking, had tried to save him.

He sat down in a small chair next to the bed, sitting his crutches against the wall. His left leg still stung, but he could no longer feel any pain as he had earlier. The Orbo was starting to wear off, much to his surprise. All he could think about right now was the figure lying in that bed, unconscious and battered and his powers. It was all his fault, he'd caused this to happen, though he hadn't meant it to. Amon's stubbornness had finally gotten the best of him, causing the one person he cared so much for, to nearly get killed. _It's my fault my powers were revealed._

For years, Amon tried desperately to conceal his powers, each day hoping that no sign of them would reveal themselves. When he'd first heard he was a healer, he thought his fears had been put to rest. Now those fears were back, more intense than ever. Though Amon was clear from any, he could still detect the scent of blood in the air, he'd smelled it since he was back in his hospital room. The blood, now knowing a little of what had occurred back in the alley, had to be Jaden's.

Amon could almost envision what had occurred that previous night in the alley, his heart racing as he imagined the blonde witch lying in a pool of his own blood, eyes staring blankly back at him. Knowing the destruction his own mother's powers caused, he knew very well that his were the same, just as destructive as hers. What was the point of modifying his powers? What in the hell did The Factory have to gain from this, besides a child to use for Orbo?

Another thought stuck in Amon's mind, a thought that had not once crossed him before. Of all people, why was Jaden carrying an Orbo gun? A witch, working for SOLOMON shouldn't have such a weapon, should he? Didn't Jaden know what Orbo was created from? Surely SOLOMON wasn't handing out Orbo guns to their agents, fully knowing what the Orbo derived from. _Or maybe Jaden's working for two sides—SOLOMON and the Factory, _Amon thought to himself.

It was quite possible that Jaden was working for both sides, neither fully knowing. Yet if he was, shouldn't Haze have known? He was beginning to believe his reasons for not trusting the woman were valid. Haze knew, but hadn't told him or Robin. Had she been playing them all along? Or was he thinking too much into this entire situation? _She's helped us both immensely. Why must I always find fault in her actions?_

His eyes lifted to look at Robin's sleeping form once again; a thought rushing over him as he watched her. He needed answers, answers to the plethora of questions that impregnated his mind. Now more than ever, he needed to know the truth and he wasn't going to wait any longer.

He didn't know if she could hear him, the words that he spoke with such a serene tone, that anyone that dared enter the room would not have believed had escaped from his own lips. The events of the previous day, had done something to him, made him someone he never imagined he could be. Someone that felt strong emotions, emotions that were starting to eat him up inside.

"I—I must," the words he wanted to speak, didn't want to come. He clinched his eyes closed, his teeth baring into his tongue as he fought to piece together his words. "I must go and I don't know what will happen. There is a chance I may not return, but if that happens," he paused once again, his eyes slowly opening, raising to glance over her pale face. "Do not come looking for me.

"Something terrible is happening and I must find a way to stop it, by myself. You can not get involved any longer and I say this to you now, knowing that if you were fully awake, you'd be negating my decision. It's something I've come to expect from you, you never take anything sitting down." Amon was inwardly smiling as he thought about the previous little bouts they'd had, more recently the one at the clothing store.

"Haze and the others will keep you safe, I am sure of that, as will Jonathan and his men. It is my job to protect you, to watch over you. I suppose it's about time that I start doing so." He stood up from the seat, grabbing the crutches from against the wall. Amon stood there for a few moments, just staring at her face, at how serene she looked. Taking his hand, he gently brushed away a stray strand of hair from her face, sighing as he realized this could be the last time he saw her.

"Starting now," he breathed, starting to step away from the bed.

Amon, whom hadn't taken two steps from the bed, felt his leg give out. His right hands slipped from his crutches, causing him to fall, his left hand slamming against the wall as he struggled to catch himself. A hot burning sensation was coursing through his leg, the pain beginning to sear up through his hip. Both eyes clinched shut, Amon felt around for his crutches.

Even with the pain that seared through his injured limb, Amon raised himself far enough to see Robin. To his relief, the chestnut-haired witch was still fast asleep. He had hoped not to awaken her, for he knew she needed to rest. After the ordeal she went through the previous day, she needed as much rest as possible.

_This is just great_, he thought as he began to pull himself up. His hands were gripping the wall and bed, shaking as he struggled to get up. Amon, finally on his feet, positioned the crutches under his arms. As much as he wished he could, Amon decided not to take the initiative to leave.

_If I can't manag to take two steps without falling, how am I going to make it out of this hospital?_

Hesitantly, Amon inched his way back to the chair. A great sense of relief swept over him as he sat down. The pain, which had been unlike anything Amon had ever felt, had finally dispersed. Thought the pain gone, there was still a nagging aching in his knees from where he'd fallen onto the floor. It was a pain Amon could surely deal with. _Well, now what do I do? _he thought drearily.

As Amon sat there, the night settled upon the hospital and its inhabitants, a somber mood filling the cloudy air. Rain continued to beat against the city, flooding alleyways and the like. Inside the hospital, nurses scrambled to fetch buckets, trying to catch the rain that managed to leak through the ceiling.

Watching from outside Robin's door was Haze, Jonathan, and Mariella, all of whom wore dreary expressions on their faces. They'd been standing guard for hours, watching restlessly for anyone that looked remotely suspicious. Haze hadn't stayed long in the cafeteria, not wanting to leave the two witches in the room alone for too long.

Amon had kept a careful eye on all of them as well.He couldn't help but feel slightly cautious of Jonathan; he was Jaden's twin after all. There was something about Jaden, something Amon couldn't quite put his finger on. Though one thing stuck out in his mind: Why hadn't he and the others come to Robin's aid the previous day? Hadn't Haze contacted them about Robin's disappearance?

_Perhaps they don't care as much as they claim to. _ Amon, at least in his mind, felt he had a reason in believing so. After all the times they'd promised to help them, why wait until Robin was nearly killed?

_Perhaps you're looking too far into this again. You do this quite often_, his mind reasoned. He seemed to think like this a lot lately. Always suspecting there was more to the people than what meets the eye, especially about those that were helping them. It was just his nature, just the way he was raised since his mother's hunting.

Every few minutes he could hear whispers from outside the door, though at times the whispers turned into hisses as the three began to fight over miscellaneous things. Unfortunately with the door shut, Amon couldn't hear those things, but at one point Mariella's voice raised higher than the others. He distinctly remembered hearing her say something about "Haze's mother," which Amon thought was quite odd. Why were they talking about a dead woman?

Amon's eyes traveled over to Robin's sleeping form every few minutes, checking to see if she was still asleep. She hadn't woken even once during the course of the day. Maya had told him that it may take Robin a while to wake back up. Though she was quite a strong witch, the pregnancy had seemed to take a lot out of her.

It seemed he wouldn't have to worry about Robin becoming unbearably powerful for now, knowing that the pregnancy, though he wasn't sure exactly how, had weakened her powers. As Maya had told him earlier in the day, her powers should be back to normal after she delivered. He was to make sure that Robin didn't try to use her powers to their full extent. Maya, whom had much experience with witch pregnancies, knew that using her powers could possibly harm the child.

"Though it's not apparent on the outside, it takes much of the energy of a witch to use their craft. The energy or essence used, is what makes up the Orbo," he remembered her saying matter-of-factly as she stood at the end of the bed, holding Robin's medical chart. He had many questions racing through his mind, one in particular standing out above the rest. _Why did the Orbo seemingly paralyze witches?_

After a long, thorough explanation of the markups that made up the Orbo, Amon easily could sum up Maya's story into one sentence. "The essence of one witch does harm to another." It made perfectly good sense to him, whom had seen firsthand what the Orbo was capable of. When two witch's fight, eventually one's powers will cancel out the other. Thus why the Orbo would weaken a witch. Using the essence of one's craft would cancel out the other witch's, though in a more powerful dosage. After all, pure Orbo was being embedded into their body, not just the results of one's craft.

Michael, even as brilliant of a hacker that he was, needed Amon to explain the Orbo in laments terms. Amon still didn't understand how a seemingly harmless woman, though she dabbled in the affairs of other witches, seemed to know so much about the Orbo. Had she had previous connections with the Factory? Or had someone slipped the information to her from SOLOMON? Who else in SOLOMON would know about the Orbo?

After nearly five hours of quiet, Haze cracked the door open to Robin's room, popping her head in to speak to Amon. She seemed exhausted, more than she usually did. Her eyelids were drooping heavily; dark rings were forming under her eyes. The woman seemed to be struggling just to stay on her feet.

"We're going down for some coffee. Do you want any?" she asked Amon, the door shaking in her grip as she struggled to stand.

Amon shook his head wearily, struggling almost as much as Haze to stay awake. She gave him a nod and then proceeded out the door, slowly shutting it behind her. The others passed by the small window; Mariella's eyes settled on the floor as she followed Jonathan. Their was something about the expression on her face that told Amon she wasn't happy at all.

He leaned back against the chair, watching the shadows from the leaves outside the window, bounce across the chalky-white ceiling. Another shadow appeared within the leaves, one Amon distinctly recognized as an owl. It was quite strange to see an owl out and about in the middle of the city. They normally resided in the forest or on the outskirts of the city, where no humans could bother them and were free to roam.

Soon the shadow disappeared from the wall, the bouncing leaves remaining as the wind outside continued to lift them into the night air. The rain was beginning to fall harder than ever– the shadows of the raindrops appearing alongside the leaves. Amon was beginning to wonder if the weather was some kind of omen, warning of the things that were soon to come. It had been months since they'd seen a clear day. Normally the rainy clouds didn't last for this long in the year. Yet these had and no one, not even the meteorologists on the local news stations, could explain the awkward weather.

Normally one would find Amon's attention towards the shadows quite odd. Though he wasn't just watching the leaves and the rain that stretched across the walls and ceiling. He was watching for someone, anyone that might dare try to enter the room from the outside. It wouldn't be unusual for someone to come in that way. They would cause less commotion coming through the window, than barging through a door that was heavily watched by hospital staff.

The shadows were beginning to blur from Amon's sight as he felt his eyelids slowly falling. He tried four times to keep his eyes open, but on the fourth try he finally gave into the weariness that had been threatening to take over him all day. His eyes slowly turned towards Robin's bed, Amon wanting to take one last glance at her before he fell asleep.

**-Cafeteria-**

"No, I say there's two," scoffed Doujima, emptying a sugar packet into her steaming cup of coffee. She was sitting at a round white table, next to Sakaki and Haze down in the little section of the cafeteria that remained open after hours. At the end of the room, staring at them, was Karasuma alongside Michael. Jonathan and Mariella were sitting at a table near the two, staring out the window as the rain continued to fall. Everyone was in a solemn mood, except for Doujima and Sakaki. They were busy fighting as usual.

"What do you mean _two_? She can't be carrying twins, can she?" asked Sakaki dumbfounded.

"She _is _showing early," sighed Haze, her eyes rolling over to glance at the two quarreling hunters. "It's quite possible."

"Can you just imagine Amon being the father of twins?" said the blonde-haired hunter with a mischievous smile.

"It's hard enough imagining him as the father of one kid." Haze sighed, taking the red stirrer in her coffee cup and circling the inside; watching the foam that had formed at the top, quickly disappear. "I don't know how he can handle all of this."

"Shouldn't we be up there?" asked Sakaki.

"No, I think he needed some privacy. Hopefully he's fallen asleep. I don't know how he can stay awake so long after everything that has happened," Haze said, letting go of the stirrer and laying her chin down in her hands, her elbows rubbing against the cold table. Her eyes wandered over to where Karasuma and Michael stood, both starting to talk to one another. They'd been over there for quite some time, just watching the three of them at the table. She was starting to wonder if something was wrong with the both of them.

"So, how long have you known Robin?" asked Doujima, taking a small sip of her coffee.

"Since we were little," she answered, not bothering to lift her gaze from the other side of the room.

"Are you related?"

"Maybe," she smirked.

Both Sakaki and Doujima were now sitting on the edge of the seats, their attention on the raven-haired girl. She could see they _really _wanted a true answer to their question. It was too much fun watching them. When she didn't say anything else, Doujima frowned, sitting back in her chair. Sakaki followed suit, snatching his coffee cup off of the table, nearly splashing it onto his blue shirt.

"You never talk," he huffed.

"Fine, we're _not _related. Happy now?"

Just as the two were about to chew her out, Maya walked into the cafeteria, quite stressed from the looks of it. She was carrying a pile of folders in her arms, her small-framed glasses slowly slipping from the tip of her nose. When she got to the table, she pushed them back with her index finger, her eyes fluttering when the lenses brushed against her eyelashes.

"Something the matter?" asked Haze, her eyes scanning over the folders.

"I need to talk to you," she said, motioning for Haze to follow her.

The girl sighed, sitting her foam cup in front of her as she stood from her seat. Doujima and Sakaki waved to her as she walked off with Maya, Haze neglecting to notice them. Instead, her attention was on Michael, whom was giving her the most peculiar look. He seemed befuddled by her sudden friendliness with Maya.

Michael watched as Haze and the old woman exited through the cafeteria doors, his mind filled with questions. He knew that Maya was just a contact of hers, but she seemed much closer to the woman than he previously thought. This wasn't the first time that he'd noticed this. When Amon and Robin were brought back to STN-J headquarters after the raid on their home, he noticed then that Maya and Haze seemed to talk a lot, almost like good friends.

Once he tried to get Haze to elaborate on the subject, but she didn't seem keen on discussing the issue any further. There was something going on between those two, that he was sure of. Had Maya been a family friend of hers? Or did the woman take some part in raising her? The latter had to be untrue, for Haze had grown up in Europe whilst the old woman lived in Japan. Or did she?

Even though Michael liked Haze, there was something about her, something he just couldn't place his finger on. As horrible as he felt for thinking this, he thought it best to dig into her personal files a bit. Michael was glad he wasn't a cat, for surely curiosity would have killed him.

Haze and the old doctor walked out into the little walk area outside the hospital, both seemingly quiet. Maya still had the pile of folders in her arms, the young hunter eyeing them curiously. She hadn't bothered to ask why Maya wished to see her nor why she carried all those folders. Somehow she felt that whatever the old woman wished to discuss, it wasn't something that Haze would like. Each time Maya wanted to speak in private, she got that feeling.

They walked down to a cement bench, surrounded by blooming flowers, wet by the fallen rain that had luckily just stopped. A tree stood nearby, surrounded by a circle of small pebbles, a few stray leaves laying outside of it. Birds were chirping up in the branches, teasing the cats that eyed them from under one of the benches. Just as Maya and Haze approached the bench, the birds flew off into the sky, the cats quickly chasing behind them. The morning was quickly sneaking upon them.

"Silly creatures," chuckled the old woman, sitting the pile of folders down as she sat herself on the bench.

"I use to own a cat," smiled Haze as she watched the cats disappear down the sidewalk.

Maya smiled and nodded, her eyes settling down on the pavement in front of her. Her mood suddenly seemed to sink into one of sadness as she sat there. "Yes you did. What was his name again? Mamo? Mamoro?"

"Mamoru. He was a sweet little cat, the only pet I _ever _had." She chuckled as she began to think about the cat, the only friend she had up until she met Robin in Italy. "You gave him to me as a present for my fifth birthday, a very special gift. I remember how spoiled he was, getting presents from _everyone_."

"He was even more spoiled than you," sighed Maya softly.

"I was never spoiled, not really." Haze looked up at the woman, giving her a bitter smile. She was fighting to hold back the tears that were threatening to shed themselves. "It's nice to talk like this. We haven't done it in quite a long time. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed, though I didn't bring you out here to talk about your old cat. It's about Zaizen."

"Does he know you tried to see him?" asked the girl worried.

"I believe he does," she said, slipping her hand into her front coat pocket. From within it, she pulled out a photograph. She handed it to Haze, her hands shaking. "This is a picture of what was left on my front door a few nights ago. At first I thought it could have been that Jaden fellow you told me about, pestering me into telling him where Robin and Amon were."

Haze's eyes swam over the picture, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. It was a picture of Maya's front door, a most frightening picture. Written in what she believed to be blood, was the word "witch" with a small dagger thrust above it. She knew this sign very well, it was something she bared witness to many years ago, when she was only a child. This was a threat from someone—someone that hated witches.

"But I do not believe it is because I tried to see him."

"Then what is it?" asked the girl curiously.

"It is because I tried to see _her_."

Everything had become mysteriously dark, not a drop of light apparent throughout the entire room. The smell of gunpowder stung at her nose as she drifted through the darkness, her hands outstretched in front of her as she desperately tried to find her way around. Inside her chest, Robin's heart beat rapidly, fear consuming her. She didn't know where she was nor why she was here. Wasn't she just in the alleyway?

"Hello," called out a very frightened Robin, pacing around in the darkness. She rose her hands up to her face, her eyes unwilling to see them from the black mist around her. Near her, something kept beeping, Robin wondering if it was a cell phone. "Hello? Anyone there?" she called out again. Though she could not see in front of her, the girl continued through the darkness, her foot catching on some large object. Falling over, Robin landed on top of the object, her hands reaching to feel out what she'd fell on top of.

Her heart pumped vigorously as she felt a tuft of hair slide between her shaking fingers. "What?" she gasped, her hands clawing further down. Robin's hands stopped around a wide wrist–the skin icy cold. She gasped, her grip slipping as she dove back from the person. "Oh my god."

_A—a body!_ She tried to swallow the knot that had formed in her throat, Robin slowly inching herself back towards the person. Slowly she ran her hands against the person's arm, leading towards their chest. A slick substance coated the girl's fingers, more of it slipping through her fingers as her hands landed over a large gaping whole that ran through the person's chest. Blood was pouring out of the wound, soaking their clothes.

"Hello?" she whispered, hoping that whomever was lying there would respond back.

A few seconds passed by, before the person lying in front of her made a sound. If they were speaking words, those words were unidentifiable to Robin. The person was gasping, their hand popping against the ground. Robin assumed they were reaching out for her, wanting her to help them.

"Oh my god," she breathed, her hands racing to the ground. Even though she had no light to show her the way, Robin tried her best at locating the end of her dress. She ripped at the cloth with her teeth, managing to pull off a piece that was big enough to place over the wound.

"Everything's alright." Robin was trying her best to stay calm, but it was becoming quite difficult. She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she sat there, holding the cloth against the person. She had a feeling as to whom was lying their, a bullet buried in their chest.

"Everything's alright Amon," she whispered sadly. Robin felt a hand around her neck. She knew, though she wasn't sure why it was happening, Amon was choking her.

She awoke with such a startle, that it nearly sent Amon flinging from his chair. His head whipped around to see her sitting upright in bed, clutching the bed sheet fiercely. The expression on her face was one of absolute terror, one Amon had never seen on her before. He almost swore that he had seen a tear escape from the corner of her eye.

"Robin?" he asked, leaning himself closer to the bed. His tone was soft, one that he didn't usually carry himself with.

"Amon?" she breathed, slightly turning her head to look at him. It was apparent that she hadn't expected to see him there. Her shoulders were slightly shaking as she fought to slow her breathing.

"Calm down, it was just a nightmare. You're safe here." Amon felt as if his own words were nothing, but hoped that they at least helped Robin. They weren't truly safe in a sense, where would they possibly be safe?

He noticed that Robin seemed hesitant to speak, her mind still racing with the visions that had swum around in her nightmare. Though he wanted to know what could have awoken her in such a fright, he didn't want to push it. _She probably doesn't wanna talk about it yet. Just give her time, _his mind reasoned.

"You were dead." Her voice was shaky, a low whisper that didn't seem to escape from her own lips. "Everything was dark and there was no one around that I could see. Then I tripped over something. There was the scent of gunpowder in the air—and there was a body on the ground."

"Well, I'm still here, which proves it was just a nightmare."

"I know, but it just felt so real. Just like those others." Robin's voice trailed off at the last sentence, unaware that she'd spoken loud enough for Amon to hear. She was speaking of the nightmares she'd never bothered to tell him about, the ones she had had for many months.

"What others?" Amon asked curiously. He'd never heard her speaking of other nightmares, but he figured that she didn't feel inclined in telling him about them. _When have you ever made her feel inclined in telling you anything?_

"Nothing," she lied. Robin turned her head away from Amon, her eyes suddenly drawn to the tiles on the floor.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me about the nightmares, then tell me this. Why did you jump in front of me?" Amon realized his tone had become almost harsh, speaking louder than he had meant to.

"I don't know."

"You do know."

Robin's eyes glazed over as she continued staring down at the tiled-floor. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully, hesitating to say them to him. Amon didn't know why she didn't want to tell him.

"Tell me," he said sternly.

"My heart," she began, her eyes moving over to stare at the folds in the bed sheet "seems to act of it's own accord." For the first time in what seemed like forever, the corners of her mouth lifted, showing a small yet sad smile. "I knew what I was doing, but did it anyway, even at the risk of losing the baby. It was a reckless act."

"Yes it was reckless! You could have both died!"

"But I didn't—I couldn't let you die Amon. Perhaps I became selfish, wanting the one thing that was always there, to not go away. Even at the cost of everything we've been working for. My selfishness nearly cost us everything."

Amon was at a loss for words. She was afraid of losing him? So she did feel the same as him? "You're not selfish Robin." For so long he'd found himself hesitant on saying anything that meant he cared about or even loved her, but now, after all they'd been through, those words seem to just slip out of him. "You did what I would have done for you."

Her eyes were suddenly settled upon him, Amon now sure that he'd seen a tear run down her cheek. A few moments passed with them both sitting there staring at each other, silent. They both seemed to be contemplating what the other had said, struggling to find something to say next. Neither had ever looked into the others eyes for that long before.

"I'm sorry," Amon said, breaking the silence. It seemed to be much easier to say those words now than before.September 10, 2005

"I'm sorry too," said Robin with a relieved smile.

The mood in the room seemed lighter than before, happy for once. Yet something was still lingering in Amon's chest, something he hadn't bothered to tell Robin. He hadn't bothered to say anything about his powers awakening, about killing Jaden. Suddenly he felt nauseous, the thoughts of his powers making his body feel weak.

"Just because they awoke, doesn't mean you should run off." Amon didn't realize that Robin was still looking at him, her stare piercing through him. How was it that she knew what he'd been thinking about? More importantly, how did she know that his powers awoke?

"But how—?"

"I caught a glimpse of it—and I felt it. There was this great force in the air, it was staggering. Even though I was nearly unconscious, I could still tell the powers had come from you."

"How?" asked Amon curiously.

"There was a protective quality about them. The power was strong, but didn't seem threatening to me, though I'm sure it was to Jaden."

"I don't remember what happened." Amon felt that maybe he _didn't _want to know what had happened. He was sure that it would turn out like the day his mother's powers revealed themselves. There would be a body on the ground, a look of complete horror slapped across his face, Jaden laying in a pool of his own blood.

"You—you weren't yourself, were you?" Robin asked curiously.

"But how—?" Amon was beginning to wonder if Robin was a mind reader. She seemed to know a lot about what was going on, even when Amon had no clue.

"Well, Haze warned me that this might happen. She said that SOLOMON's been making her watch you closely, concerning your powers. If they did show, there was a chance that you'd have no control over them. From what Haze told me, this isn't that rare of a condition."

"Condition?" Amon asked questioningly. He didn't see how his powers becoming uncontrollable could be considered a 'condition.' "How can anyone call this a 'condition?'"

"You can get over it supposedly. Obviously I've never lost complete control of my powers, so I can't say for sure if that's true. Haze though—," Robin paused, her eyes narrowing. "She knows firsthand."

Was she saying that Haze had lost control of her powers before? What craft did the woman carry anyway? Amon had never seen a single sign of the craft come from her, assuming that none of the other STN-J members had either. Did Robin know of Haze's powers all along?

"She lost control of her own powers?"

"No, it was her mother." Robin didn't seem to want to continue.

"Her mother? What about her mother?"

"Haze told me that her mother lost control of her powers when she was younger. She'd only heard about it, not actually seen it. Her father was the one that told her about it." Robin never pressed Haze about the matter, not wanting to be insensitive to her friend's feelings.

Amon leaned back in his chair, turning his head away from Robin. He didn't want her to see the look of worry on his face, the look of shame that could be hinted in his eyes. Others had lost control of the powers, only to be killed in the end. Would he end up like the rest of them? Was he fated to end up like his mother. _You're stronger than that_, his mind reasoned.

There was something he needed to do, but would have to wait until tomorrow. He had to go back to the scene, in the alley where he lost control. Amon had to see with his own eyes, where Jaden's body once lay, the place that his worst fear surfaced for all to see. Knowing that Robin would probably try to persuade him in not doing so, Amon decided to not breathe a word of it to her. She wouldn't understand why he had to go back.

Amon had waited a long while after Robin had fallen asleep (and left a note incase he didn't return), to sneak out and head towards the alley. He was heading down the sidewalk, looking around for anyone that might be following him. There was no one near him as far as he could see, though he had the feeling that someone was watching him. Fortunately if anyone tried to ambush him, he had his gun ready. It didn't matter who this person was, he wouldn't think twice about shooting them.

He rounded the corner that led into the alleyway and walked down a ways until he was at the spot—the spot where it had all happened. There were bloody footprints leading to the wall where Jaden had first fallen and where he had fired his gun towards the dark hunter. Amon could see it all playing in front of him once again. After that horrific moment, where he thought he lost everything, it happened. So what happened at that moment?

The man stood there and scrutinized the area where Jaden had died, trying to remember what could have happened. Amon saw Jaden's furious eyes staring back at him, his gun raised and the sound of his cursing reaching the cold hunter's ears. Jaden's gun was out of bullets. Then an image, which Amon thought he'd never forget, filled his mind. It looked as if Jaden had seen the most horrendous scene in history, his face was filled with terror and his eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets.

Just as soon as that image had disappeared, another appeared. This time it was the same look of horror, only it wasn't coming from Jaden. It was of someone else, a man dressed in white. Amon was in some kind of tank and the man stood outside the tank, shaking violently. Another man came running into the room and from what Amon could see, had hit some buttons on a control panel. Then the image left him and he found himself staring at the empty alleyway once again.

_Was that from the warehouse?_ He wondered to himself. So, it wasn't the first person that had died because of his powers. This is why SOLOMON had been determined to find him. They knew what a danger he proved to be. Jaden had been the one to tell them, his contact had surely told him what had occurred. Still, he did not understand what Jaden's personal vendetta against him could be.

Amon turned to head out of the alley, when he heard faint footsteps from behind him. He turned around to see no one there, but the fog that still drifted through the air. The footsteps came closer, but still he saw no one. Whomever it was, was either gifted at not being sighted or he was going completely insane. As he went to grab his gun, cold metal tapped him on the back.

"I don't think so," said a cold voice.

Haze and Maya had spent the morning speaking outside, talking about different things that had been on their minds. They hadn't the faintest idea that Amon had been gone, nor that Robin was awake and by herself upstairs. The others had spent most of the night drinking coffee in the cafeteria.

Neither woman expected that morning, to see a panicked Michael racing out of the hospital.

"Haze!" called Michael from behind the two women.

Both of them turned around to see the panicked man, running out to meet them. He was carrying a slip of paper with him. When he stopped right behind both of them, he tried to catch his breath. Michael nearly started choking when the last breath of air he took, tickled at his throat.

"Is something wrong?" asked Maya, standing up from the bench.

Michael threw out his hand, showing both of them the note. "It's from Amon, we just found it in Robin's hospital room." He watched the women's faces as they read through the note. "He's gone off and none of us know where he could have possibly gone."

Haze's nose scrunched up in anger as she read through the last line. It was orders for all of them to watch over Robin, while he went off on some wild goose chase. "Idiot!" she spat, throwing her foot down on the ground. "What in the hell does he think he's doing? Doesn't he realize he could be killed?"

"That's not what I'm worried about," said Maya, taking the note from Michael. "I'm more worried about Robin when she wakes up. When she sees he's gone, well," she paused as she looked at both of the youth. "It won't be a pretty sight. Amon wants you to take care of her, to make sure nothing happens. By leaving her like this, does he not realize what this will do to her?"

"Go gather the others. We need to go look for him. He's probably at the alleyway from last night," Haze said, keeping herself from yelling.

The young hacker nodded, running back towards the hospital entrance. Haze sighed, apologizing to Maya for having to leave so suddenly. She hated the fact that Amon would just run off like this, but what made all of this even worse was that he had left Robin.

The others hadn't said much before they departed. Robin was sitting up in her hospital bed, staring down at her pale hands. When she had awakened earlier that morning, she had read over Amon's note over and over. She knew where he had gone and why he had left her. It didn't bother her, she knew he needed answers and this was the only was he would get them. Along with the note, much to her surprise, was her mother's pendant. In the note, Amon had explained that he had had it all along, but hadn't thought to give it to her. If something were to happen to him, he didn't want her to be without her mother's pendant any longer.

Tears began to sting at her eyes as she held the pendant against her chest, her eyes clinched closed as she tried to keep the tears back. She was having a hard time making sense of all this. Somehow she knew that something was wrong, but no one was around for her to talk to. Everyone was already off, looking for Amon. Haze had called from the alley, telling Robin that Amon had been nowhere in sight.

She found herself crying often (which Robin rarely did) and it continued until she found herself back at Amon's apartment. A few days had passed and still no word from him, much to Robin's distress. The others had tried their best to cheer her up, but nothing seemed to help. Not that she was in that down of a mood anyway. She supposed that she was use to being by herself by now and Amon being gone was just like a normal day, except that he wasn't coming back. It almost felt as if he were dead, gone from the world. Robin hoped that wasn't true, for if he was, that meant he'd never see his child. _Nor will I see him again,_ she thought sadly.

After spending a good while in the hospital for observation, Maya finally permitted Robin to go home, on the condition of staying out of trouble. She agreed, but wasn't sure how to exactly keep that promise. How was she to keep out of trouble when trouble seemed always find her?

Haze had done her usual task of lecturing her for using her craft to its entirety, even though Robin explained that without using her craft, she and the baby would probably be dead. She hoped that her craft wouldn't have to be used for a long time, but somehow she knew that would not happen. Sooner or later she'd be attacked again. _This time there's no Amon to help fight off your enemies._

Amon's apartment seemed even more melancholy than usual as Robin and Haze stepped into the livingroom that afternoon. Haze had setup a few lamps here and there, so that Robin wouldn't trip all over the house. The coffee table was cleared, except for 3 candles, 1 of which had melted entirely and whose wax laid spilled over the metal holder. Right before Haze had purchased the lamps, she had to use the candles to work around the house. With Amon gone and Robin being by herself, she felt it best to fix up a few things. Of course, Robin wouldn't be entirely alone. Whenever she had the time, Haze would come over and visit.

One major difference in the room was the addition of a small bookshelf, one that Robin thought was quite lovely. It was made of a glossed over reddish wood, which matched the room perfectly. Inside of the bookshelf was a multitude of books, many of them being on childbirth and care, as well as a few books Robin loved reading when she was back in Tuscany.

Robin decided to sit herself down on the couch as Haze went off to the kitchen to put up the groceries she'd managed to pickup on the way. Her eyes traveled to the curtained window, where the curtains were pulled open. The sun was covered up by the gray clouds in the sky, that threatened to soak the poor city. Even the disappearance of the sun made the apartment feel even lonelier.

Haze finally emerged from the kitchen, holding two saucers and teacups. She gave the chestnut-haired girl a small smile as she handed her one of them. Robin thanked her, taking her saucer and placing it on the coffee table. For a while she just sat there, staring at the steam rise from the teacup. After a few minutes, Haze noticed she hadn't touched her tea.

"Come on Robin, the tea is good for you," she said, placing her saucer down on the table.

"I'm sorry Haze. It's just that I'm not feeling very well." Robin wasn't lying, she felt horrible but not in a sick sort of way. She felt tired and drained, upset and ashamed. Nothing would seem to brighten her spirits, unless Amon came walking through the front door. Every few minutes, she began worrying about where he could be and if he was even alive.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" asked Haze sadly. She had seen it ever since she entered Robin's hospital room, soon after Amon's departure. It was the same sadness and worry that had been in her eyes then. Amon was causing Robin to be worse off than she ever was before. _How is this protecting her?_ she thought angrily.

"It's hard not to worry. If his powers awoken—well I just can't imagine what he's going through. He's always disliked the idea that within him were some unknown powers. Now that they've surfaced, he must feel overwhelmed and angry. I just wanna know if he's alright." Robin sighed, reaching down to grab her tea cup. She finally took a sip, bringing a smile to her friend's face.

"I know," she sighed. "Hopefully we'll hear from him again. It's not like him to totally cut off contact from us. He must be worried about you, seeing as he hasn't heard or seen you since he left the hospital. For all he knows, you could have taken a turn for the worse or something."

"Yes, I hope he calls." Not wanting to dwell on Amon (even though she really wanted to), Robin decided to move on to a different subject. "So, are you coming over tomorrow as well?" Robin asked curiously.

Haze grimaced as she turned her head to face Robin. She wanted to tell her yes so badly, but unfortunately she couldn't. "Well, I might can sneak by for a few minutes tomorrow. I have to fly off to SOLOMON headquarters for a followup on Zaizen tomorrow afternoon. Stretten seems very anxious over any news on the guy. Something seems quite odd about Stretten though."

"Like what?"

"Well—it's hard to explain." Haze's eyes rolled to the ceiling as she contemplated her answer. "Many times when I call to speak with him, he's never there and when he _is _there, he only wants to talk about Zaizen. He knew Zaizen pretty well, they both were partners years ago at SOLOMON. Anyway, he seems obsessed on finding him. Maybe Zaizen is more dangerous than I believe him to be."

"He is quite dangerous." Robin knew all too well about Zaizen and his power. She knew he had a personal vendetta against her now, which left a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Somewhere out there, he was waiting for his chance to get revenge, that she knew for sure. After Touko's visit to the apartment, she felt even more worried. Touko could have possibly told her father that she and Amon had been staying there.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you. It's about Jaden."

"Jaden?" asked Robin dumbfounded.

"Yes, it's about the night he attacked you. You said he kept talking about wanting to get revenge and how he wanted Amon, right? Well, I did some research and I think I understand what was going on." Haze pulled out her trusty cell phone, flipping it open to reveal the screen, a picture of a man and woman appearing thereafter.

"Who is that?" The man seemed familiar to her, but she wasn't sure why.

"This is John and Elsa Montgomery, two ex-hunters from SOLOMON. They use to work alongside Juliano and Zaizen back when both men were hunters. John was a big figure in the organization, being one of the top hunters, Juliano being the first. Elsa, his wife of twenty-five years, was a hunter up until SOLOMON discovered that the two had secretly wedded. Both were kicked out of the organization and in retaliation, John built a witch sanctuary. Not only was it to show up the bigwigs at SOLOMON, but to protect those he cared for. He soon found out after being fired, that Elsa was a witch."

"Jaden and Jonathan's parents?" asked Robin.

"Yes, it seems that years after the sanctuary was built, SOLOMON would try to show Montgomery that the organization is not to be messed with. Elsa and her daughter Catherine were going on holiday in England, Jonathan and Jaden were soon to follow with their father. Unfortunately they never made it there. Soon after Elsa's plane landed, she and Catherine were assassinated. It seems the assassin was sent by Stretten, whom was only a newbie to SOLOMON at the time. The assassin was recommended by Zaizen, the assassin themself being Amon."

"What! You mean _Amon _killed Jaden's mother and sister?" It all made perfect sense now, why Jaden suddenly wanted Amon's life. Amon had been one to take two precious things from his own life. _Amon's past is slowly coming back to haunt him. Does he even remember killing them?_ she wondered to herself.

"I am sure Amon doesn't remember killing them. After all, he's done many hunts in his years of being a SOLOMON and STN-J agent." Flipping the phone shut, Haze stuck it back in her coat pocket, wondering what Robin thought of the news. She hadn't said much back to her, nor had she inquired any further. Was she really okay with this news?

"That explains plenty," Robin sighed. She wasn't sure whom to feel more pity towards. Both seemed to have endured great trials during their younger years. _Jaden let his own revenge blind him. Unlike Amon, whom has let his hatred for witches ease away with time. After all, if he hadn't let go, wouldn't I be dead now? _

Haze glanced over at the clock that hung from the wall. Unfortunately she should have been to work hours ago and was sure she'd pay for it once she arrived there. It wouldn't just be Kosaka that would verbally maul her for turning into another "Doujima", but the others too. She would cause them to delay their cases.

Sighing, Haze stood up from the couch, grabbing the two saucers off of the table. It wouldn't be proper to just leave them there for Robin to take care of. She carried them off to the kitchen, leaving Robin to sit by herself again.

Robin had this nagging feeling about today, or more presumably about Haze. Something didn't seem right. It was almost as if she felt Haze wouldn't be coming back here, but she knew that wasn't true. Haze had already promised to stop by when she could, though with the trip to SOLOMON headquarters, she wouldn't see her for quite a few days. Was that all she was worried about? Missing Haze for a few days?

The days seemed to grow longer as Robin sat in the house, doing the little things she'd been use to doing throughout the day. She no longer had to worry about washing clothes for Amon, nor did she have to worry about making big lunches for them both. Being that only she was living in the apartment, there wasn't much to do anymore. Instead she'd sit and read the books that Haze had gotten for her, learning more and more about what she would eventually be experiencing; motherhood. Having Amon around made everything seem so much easier, so much less complex. Was she going to raise the child by herself now? _Wasn't that your plans when you ran off?_ her mind berated.

She hadn't heard from Haze in over one week, nor had she heard from any of the other STN-J members. It seemed like her feelings about Haze's departure proved true. Just before Haze had boarded her plan she'd called Robin, telling her that someone would come check up on her when they had the chance.

The thoughts of Amon being in danger soon sunk back into her mind; already pregnant with a vast array of thoughts. He'd been gone for so long, the longest they'd been apart since the day of the Factory incident. Some days she'd just pretend he was off in his room, working relentlessly, but soon reality would set in. There was only her in that apartment and no one else.

An unsettling feeling sat at the pit of her stomach, gnawing away at her as she watched the sunset come each day. How much longer would it be until she _did _hear from someone? Would bad news be awaiting her? Most of all, where was Zaizen and what was he planning?

Something else bothered her—something she'd been thinking about for quite some time. The hunt against her was called off and no one, not even Haze, knew why. Robin still believed it to be a trick by SOLOMON, hoping to lure her out, but if so, shouldn't they have snagged her long ago? She'd been out in public many times.

Yet one more thing seemed to irk the girl, _Jaden and the Orbo gun_. It seemed strange that someone working alongside SOLOMON would have an Orbo gun. She kept assuming he was just working two sides, but it just felt as if there was more to it.

Robin was folding up the remaining towels she'd managed to wash earlier that morning, carefully stacking them on the dryer. She was just lifting another towel from the jumbled stack, when the telephone rang. Normally Haze called around this time, checking up on her. Not that Robin thought she really needed to be checked up on. Everyone thought her to be weaker than she actually was. _They tend to forget that I'm just pregnant._

Sitting on the coffee table was the telephone, the LCD screen blinking. Robin pressed the talk button just as she was raising it to her ear. To her surprise, the person on the other end wasn't Haze at all, but Michael. Telling by the sound of his voice, something was terribly wrong.

"_Robin, have you heard from Haze_?" he asked.

"No I haven't. Is something the matter?" she asked curiously.

Michael gave a frustrated sigh. "_Great, she hasn't talked to you either. I've checked over the SOLOMON database, called every person I can think of that would have seen her, but still nothing. When is the last time you heard from her?_"

"About one week ago. I just assumed she was backlogged with work. How long has it been since you've spoken to her?" Robin figured that the answer would be the same from him, that she hadn't been heard from in one week. She'd gone to SOLOMON headquarters and never came back. Did Stretten know she'd been lying to the organization all this time?

"_Well, the last time I talked to her was right after she called you from the airport. She was fixing to board her plane when her phone cut off. There was a lot of wind interference that day, so I just assumed that was the phone problem. Now I'm starting to believe there's more to it._"

"Do you think she's trying to trail Amon?"

"_Nah, I don't I think so. She would have told somebody, wouldn't she? I mean, Amon's sly and Haze knows that. Maybe she's on another assignment, but wouldn't have SOLOMON sent us something about it?_"

"Maybe someone should go to SOLOMON headquarters and find out? Maybe Doujima's met Stretten or at least knows someone at headquarters that does. What about the airport? Have you called there to see if she boarded the plane?" Robin was fairly sure he'd called the airport, but it never hurt to ask.

**-STN-J Headquarters-**

"Doujima's already on it. Surprising she'll actually get work done if it means a free trip out of Japan. I just have to tell her when to leave. Headquarters claims they haven't seen Haze the last few days. Supposedly she left for Tokyo days ago. Her trip was only suppose to last four days." Michael glanced over at the doorway to see Chief Kosaka entering with Hattori and another man, someone the younger hacker had seen once before. "Hey, I'll call you back," he said, clicking the phone off.

Michael started looking through a few more files as the three walked towards Zaizen's old office, now belonging to Kosaka. His eyes traveled towards the office, watching them as the stepped inside. He couldn't believe his eyes. Did he just imagine that?

"_Stretten_?" he said to himself, quite puzzled.

As the door slammed shut, Michael glanced around him. Seeing that no one else was around, he flipped on the security monitor in Zaizen's office. The two older men were sitting down, Hattori giving both men drinks as the two started chatting away; Stretten smoking a cigar. Stretten was talking about his ex-wife, whom Michael assumed Chief Kosaka knew. He kept making comments about how she'd always been that way (Michael couldn't follow what their conversation was about) .

Soon their conversation changed into one that Michael didn't expect. He almost didn't believe his ears. Turning up the volume on his headphones, the hacker listened closely, hoping that he'd misheard the men.

**-Kosaka's Office-**

"A new hunter?" asked Kosaka shocked. "But you just sent us Haze. What about her?" He didn't want to say it in front of his own boss, but he was starting to like Haze. She was the only new piece of eye candy around the office he had had in a while.

"Yes, we're sending a new hunter. Haze has been reassigned and will not continue her work here. The new hunter shall arrive here fairly soon. We are finalizing her paperwork back at headquarters. She's very good at what she does," he said with a smirk.

"So what is young Haze doing now, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Kosaka curiously.

A puff of smoke escaped from Stretten's lips, the puff popping against Kosaka's bristly moustache. The man grunted, smirking as he saw the balding man's reaction. "Do you really think I would tell you? She's no longer your concern."

"But she did work here."

"She doesn't any longer. Do not worry about little Haze." His eyes rose over to Hattori, whom was looking at the man quite perplexed. "What's the matter with you?" asked Stretten, blowing a puff of smoke in his direction.

"Nothing," said Hattori, snatching the two empty glasses off of Kosaka's desk. To Stretten and Kosaka's surprise, the man stepped out the door, slamming it behind him.

**-Michael's Desk-**

When Michael saw the man leaving, he quickly shut off the security camera, switching back to his case folders. Hattori was just entering the kitchen area as Michael stood up from his desk. It didn't seem that Hattori liked Stretten very much, nor did Stretten like him. Michael decided to ask Hattori about it.

The older man was just sitting the glasses in the sink when Michael approached him, Hattori obvious to the fact that the hacker was wanting to talk to him. It was quite odd that he'd want to talk with him, when Michael normally did no more than nod to him when he came in the mornings.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Hattori, flipping on the faucet.

Michael cleared his throat, trying to give himself another second to think. He wasn't exactly sure how to approach this, he had been spying on them after all. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Hattori gave a loud aggravated sigh. Apparently he'd figured out why Michael wished to speak with him.

"You must have overheard those two talking," he said, rinsing off one of the dirty glasses. "I know that Stretten guy, better than I'd really like to. He married my sister and talks harshly of her all the time. They got divorced two years ago, but he still goes on about how horrible of a wife she was," sighed the man.

"So, what's he here about?" asked Michael.

"About Haze, seems she got reassigned. We're getting some new hunter soon. I'm getting tired of new hunters. All the good ones keep leaving," said the man drearily.

"He's transferring her? Man, I can't believe this." Michael didn't know if his performance was believable or not to Hattori.

"Yeah, it's a shame. I use to like it when Robin was here. She talked to me some. Too bad neither her or Amon made it back, though Amon gave me the willies. Anyway, since neither are coming back, we'll be stuck with another new person. I wonder what they'll be like."

"Me too," said Michael, watching Hattori head back into Kosaka's office. Just as the man disappeared through the door, Michael reached for the telephone, dialing Robin back. There was so much he had to tell her, but just as Robin picked up, Kosaka's booming voice filled the office. Michael told Robin to hold on for a second.

"WHAT! What do you mean _fired_! You—you said that Haze was being replaced, NOT ME!" yelled Kosaka angrily.

"Yes, well SOLOMON is going through quite a few changes my old friend. And with those changes, comes the end of many long years of service, from people like you. So, I will expect you to be out of this office by tomorrow morning. Mr. Akoto and the replacement hunter will be here by then." Stretten put out his cigar and gave Kosaka a devious smile. "It was nice seeing you again old friend," he said, walking towards the elevator.

Kosaka just stared at Stretten, his jaw dropped and a vein appearing on his forehead. As Stretten went down the elevator, all the fury that had been collecting within Kosaka, came spilling out. Michael inched down under his desk, trying to drown out Kosaka's yells as he explained what had all happened to Robin. He could hear Hattori in the mean time, trying to tell Kosaka to calm down.

**-Amon's Apartment-**

"I have a bad feeling about all of this," said Robin worried. "First Amon disappears, then Haze, and now Chief Kosaka is being booted from the STN-J? Stretten's up to something Michael, you better keep an eye on him."

"_Don't worry, I'll send Doujima to SOLOMON headquarters. She told me that she's willing to go and get information if need be. I think now is the time_," said Michael. His voice was being drowned out by the yells from the background.

"Well, thank you for calling Michael. If anything else happens, let me know." Both said their goodbyes and hung up, Robin returning to folding clothes. Things were getting worse with each day as it would seem. She hoped that Doujima wouldn't disappear when she went back to headquarters, nor would any of the other hunters.

**-Construction Site-**

The night was setting once again, as dark and muggy as the one before it. Construction workers were putting the finishing touches to the new building, which now looked more like a business office than a skeleton of building. Tonight Zaizen, whom normally sat in his apartment across the street watching, was inside the top office, admiring his new headquarters. Touko wasn't with him that night, instead she had gone back to the United States, not wanting anything to do with her father at the moment.

Zaizen's new workers, all men and women that had previously worked for SOLOMON, stood near his office door, awaiting orders. He was sitting in his wheelchair, the bandages that once wrapped around his body were now gone. His charred skin sent chills down each of the individuals. One of them turned their face away from him, which seemed to anger the man.

"If you wish to have a job, you best start looking at your employer," said Zaizen.

"Sorry sir," said a woman, her voice soft and shaky. She looked to be no more than twenty, he dark blue eyes settled on Zaizen, but were hidden from him by her long brown bangs.

"You all know the purpose of why I brought you here. I trained all of you to become witch hunters. The five of you will be handed orders and will follow through on them. Unfortunately one of our group is not with us, so one of you will be doubling up assignment wise." He looked over the group, his eyes running over each of their faces. "All of you may go now, except for Terardi." As the group started to exit the room, Zaizen wound his wheelchair around his desk and settled behind it.

"Is there something wrong sir?" asked the young woman.

"Terardi, you will take the extra assignment. You have proved how much you are capable of doing." He pulled a manila folder from his desk and pushed it towards her.

The brunette woman nodded and stepped forward, picking the folder up from the table. She glanced around at the contents, her eyebrows furrowing as she flipped through the notes and photos presented to her. "Sir, what is this?" she asked curiously.

"A new case."

"But we're already planning the hunt for that Robin girl. What would we want with this g—?"

"Just do the case," said Zaizen, his eyes flaring with fury.

"Yes sir," pipped Terardi, turning away to exit the office.

Zaizen watched as she left, smiling triumphantly. His plans were starting to unfold, all these months of planning were finally paying off. Finally he would have what he wanted, what he had desired for so long. Soon there would be no witches and his biggest threats, would be erased from the world.

**-Amon's Apartment-**

Robin laid in her bed, staring up at the textured ceiling. She was resting, which she didn't seem to do a lot lately, though she had promised Maya that she would do so. Even though the woman promised to come and check on her, Robin hadn't seen high or low of her since the hospital. As a matter of fact, she hadn't seen anyone lately. Haze was the last person she'd seen, it seemed like months since she'd seen her friend.

Still no word from Amon, no hints as to what had happened to Nagira, where Haze had gone, and if she was still being hunted. All she had were questions and they seemed to be piling as high as the stack of Amon's unopened mail on the coffee table. Michael couldn't tell her much, with the new boss and all. He didn't seem to like Mr. Akoto much nor the new hunter. Haze had been on his mind a lot; he never had his date with her, which Robin could tell bothered him greatly. It was killing him that she didn't bother to call him, if she could at all. Somehow, Robin and Michael both believed that something had happened, that SOLOMON had figured out Haze's involvement with the two witches.

Sometimes Robin found herself in the empty room, staring at the walls and wondering if she could manage somehow, to make it a decent nursery. Unfortunately she had little money, only what Amon had left and seeing as only he had access to the bank account, she couldn't pull any money from there. Michael had offered to help her out if need be, but she seemed to be fairing well for the time being. For now, she couldn't do anything nursery wise, though she wished she could.

Other things seemed to plague her mind, things that didn't involve her friends. Lately the local news stations were filled with reports on missing or dead people, more than what normally occurred. Children—much to Robin's heartache—were disappearing right and left. No one knew whom was doing this, no one could figure out why this particular people were being kidnapped. Robin had a good idea of why, but the public couldn't find out. Chances were, those people were witches, including the children. One of the children had been the girl Robin had watched that one afternoon, when she was working for Nagira. They had found the small girl and taken her, just like the rest.

One man had been shot by the police; the man being the father of one missing girl. He had tried to attack a police officer, but no one seemed to know why at the time. The report was quite sketchy—Michael had taken a look at it. Even though the STN-J handled witches, the police weren't allowing them access like before. Instead, it seemed that the STN-J were starting to lose their part in witch-involved crimes. SOLOMON was making sure of it.

Robin turned onto her side; facing the door, she watched the LCD screen of her cell phone flash on and off. It was sitting on the dresser, next to the box she'd received in the mail just days earlier. Yet another mysterious box had come with no note unlike before and with no return address. This time it was stuffed animals and pacifiers, which Robin hadn't bothered to put up with the rest of the baby items in the other room.

Reaching over to grab her phone, Robin pulled it from off of the dresser and stared at the screen. There was a new call and whomever had called earlier that day, had tried to reach her multiple times.

_I guess I better turn this back on_, she thought to herself. Just as she cut it back on, the phone began to ring. Robin thought the timing was quite eerie. She looked at the screen again, yet again no number nor name appeared.

"Hello?" she said, answering the call.

There was nothing there but static. No one appeared to be on the other end. Was this some kind of prank call? She answered again, but still no reply. Then she heard a familiar voice in the background. Her heart felt as if it would leap out of her chest.

"_Ro—Robin? Robin? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, I need you to go to Harry's right away. Jonathan is coming to escort you there._" said the voice.

She stammered as she tried to find the words she wanted to say, but all she could manage to spit out, was the name of the voice's owner. It was like she was dreaming, it couldn't really be? Was she imagining this?

"Nagira?"

**

* * *

**

**That's the End of Chapter 10. I'm sorry for the long wait everyone. So much has been going on and I haven't had much room to work on my fanfic, though I've been writing other things. Anyway, the main reason it has taken so long to post this, is because of the many rewrites I had to do on a particular scene. It never went the way I wished it to, and so I spent much time trying to fix that.  
**

**I tried to focus a little more on the other characters of this story, but Robin and Amon _are _the main focus of this fanfic. So, maybe I didn't focus on the others _quite _as much as some would like. Though the next chapter will focus on Maya a bit more. You'll learn quite a lot more about her and why everyone's disappearing. O-O  
**

**Preview of next chapter:**

_Reunions. . . . .True enemies._ . . . . ._Hidden Connections. . . ._


End file.
